Joining the Dark side
by Broken.is.my.name
Summary: Dark!Harry; Evil!Dumbledore; Good!Voldemort; Full character summaries inside! Short Version: Dumbledore sets out to control Harry. Harry decides Dumbledore's lies ARENT worth his life, nor the life of people he loves. So, he joins Voldemort. :D
1. Saving Harry Depression Zone

Greetings, everyone! I saw this story on and decided to…continue it. :D So, I'm reposting everything and with a little background on the story first!

Draco: Not a git like everyone believes. Okay, maybe a LITTLE bit of a git, but that's all!

Lucius: Totally a Death Eater and a total jerk.

Dumbledore: Evil!Dumbledore.

Ginny, Arthur and Ron Weasley: Backstabbers

Molly, Fred/George, Bill, Charlie and Percy Weasley: Believe Harry, not quite sure when I'll bring ALL of these 6 charries into the story.

Hermione Granger: Totally faithful to Dumbledore, but only on blind faith.

Lord Voldemort, Lestrange (Rodolphus, Bellatrix, Rabastan), Nott and Death Eaters Gallore: Not as evil as we were all led to believe! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, JK Rowling does. I'm only using her characters and timeline to screw with people's brains :D :D

Abandoned by Original Author **JacobimVonStyluss **on **February 28th, 2006**.

Please review, and I sincerely hope that you guys enjoy the re-creating of this story. I'm literally going to try my best to do you all proud! :D :D

Scath-Bunus!

Evil!Dumbledore

Good!Voldemort/DeathEaters

Good!Dursleys

Uncatogorized!Harry

_**Prologue**_

You know, after Harry got back from Hogwarts this year, he thought he could just sit around and do sod all, for the summer, like most kids. He, reasonably enough, thought he had earned a hiatus. He was wrong. He is Harry Potter, Wizarding celebrity/saviour/scapegoat/student, regularly known as the Boy-Who-Lived. As a general rule of thumb, if your name is hyphenated, you really don't get much of a break. Voldemort learned this 'bout twenty years ago, when somebody had the guts (and stupidity) to try and get an interview. But I digress. Anyway, after the whole Ministry: Mysteries department fiasco, which resulted in the death of Harry's godfather, Harry thought that he really needed a break.

He was taking one, sat in his room with a headache. It was the expected British summer; wet. Harry liked the rain. It probably had something to do with the fact, every time someone hurried past, he almost laughed at their misfortune, being caught in this rain. The only emotions that had been coaxed out of him in the past month. "Oh look, it's the prudish Wilkinsons to No15! I've always wanted to see them get a good soaking!" "Oh, it's old Bella Figg, isn't she one of Bumble's people? Her cats look annoyed." Thoughts like these were to simply to stave off the boredom and depression, but he couldn't bring himself to feel anything more than dull curiosity. He was too emotionally empty.

Nobody should have to suffer the sorrow-filled life he has. Its not fair on anyone.

**[Story Begins]**

Harry spent most of his days leaning against his wall, or the window when it rains. At no point did he show emotion, for the most part, just sat there. He only ate when his relatives, usually Petunia, pushed food through the cat flap, the one he'd had when his relatives decided to lock him up over one summer, and only let him out for bathroom breaks. He rarely finished his food, because, while he wasn't suicidal, he still saw no point to eat much. He needed little energy, and had become used to hunger. While he cared little for the stomach cramps, he could live happily with anything less. Or as happy as he was normally, which frankly wasn't very often. It didn't worry him at all, though.

Okay, so maybe the cramps were a little annoying, but nothing he hadn't dealt with before. He'd withstood multiple cruciatus curses, he shouldn't even notice something so inconsequential. It was only a little pain, after all. Damn it, he was getting weak. He growled at his own laziness, yet he did nothing more, and stayed where he was.

The pain grew until eventually Harry couldn't move properly, without nearly throwing up. It was irrelevant. Harry simply didn't get up to get his food. The pain continued...

Harry wasn't crying. Harry didn't mourn Sirius. He didn't want to crack the mask of emotionlessness he'd gotten so good at, only little droplets managing to filter through, being quashed before they took hold. Harry didn't want to show emotion anymore... it only led to hurt.

Harry still did nothing, the Dursleys carried on, without him. Petunia had heard of his loss, and wisely, chose not to tell Vernon. He would see a weakness, and mercilessly attack him over it. Petunia was not heartless, and never hated Harry for his magic. She also didn't tell Vernon that Harry did no chores. He would force him to. Luckily, Vernon had longer hours now at Grunnings, and spent most of the evening (and their money), drinking.

She held no feelings towards magic, neither positive or negative, and never disliked her sister. She was actually happy for Lily, and her power. While she was slightly jealous at the time.. She merely made it seem so because she didn't want to anger Vernon. While at the start, she loved him she soon came to realise that he was a prejudiced man. She could live with faults of personality, but then he started to drink. Heavily. No good reason, he just did. This was about fifteen years back, a couple of months before Harry came to live with them. When Harry and Dudley were two, she told him quietly that maybe he had a problem, and should seek help. Later that night, she realised he no longer loved her, and her last scrap of love for him shattered. She was glad to see it go, for he was irrational at best, and she wanted no emotional attachment to him. What broke her love...

**Flashback**

_"Honey, are you sure you need to drink so much?" she asked meekly._

_"You think I have a problem?" he slurred, seemingly unangry about the idea._

_"Well, yes, maybe you could get help?"_

_"Well... I suppose..." and then swung, breaking her jaw. She fell to the ground yelling out in pain and shock. He kicked her._

_"That'll teach you not to show me disrespect in this house, woman!" He yelled._

**End Flashback**

She went to hospital and claimed to have fell down the stairs. She couldn't believe that he had done this, and didn't want to repeat it to an outsider. She would forgive him if he apologized, and love him again if he went for alcoholic's help.

Instead, he said, "I hope you learned your lesson, bitch. You better start treating me right."

That day she swore an oath. She would stay, to prevent any real damage coming to Harry and Dudley. One action she hated herself for was sending a letter to Hogwarts, stating that Dudley would not be educated there. She could not let Dudley be treated like Harry. While she loved Harry, there was little she could do for him, and Dudley could at least be treated humanely. She wote desperate letters to Dumbledore for years, asking Harry to be taken from her and her husband, saying he was being mistreated. Every reply was the same:

_'I am sure the situation is by no means as dire as you make it out to be. I have full faith in your parenting abilities.' - Dumbledore_

Petunia came to a conclusion. The old man didn't care. She knew all about Harry, and realised that he was nothing more than a tool to him, a mere press opportunity, someone to add to Dumbledore's list of blind followers.

She added to her oath. She would take the two of them, up and leave the very day physical harm came to either Harry or Dudley.

Harry spent most of his time, leaning against the window, with his eyes shut, enjoying the noise of the rain streaming down the window. Imagining he was outside, free, able to live as he chose, and if that meant running in the rain then so be it. However, Dumbledore had banned him from leaving the house. And anyway, he was a celebrity. He'd never be free. Never free...

Harry didn't realise he was crying, until he felt the salt trickle into his mouth. The dam broke, and he grieved. Water streamed down either side of the window that night, aone natural, the other a salty reminder of the only man whose grievances compared to Harry's own.

Harry didn't move from where he sat, in an uneven chair, leant against a dirty window that night. He slept where he sat.

It was the best night's sleep he had in weeks, since before the exams. It didn't matter that he had a glass pillow, and a solid wood bed, for he dreamt all night of all the good times with Sirius. While he cried in his sleep, there was a bittersweet happiness to them, and these were tears Harry was willing to shed.

Vernon got home early that day, July 28th. Petunia felt a feeling of foreboding before Vernon stepped through the door, and this was confirmed when Vernon stepped into the kitchen.

"Petunia, why the hell are you doing the chores? I thought we made it clear the freak would do it as punishment for his... condition."

She felt her tenuous control over her temper break and she snapped, "Well, you thought wrong. You made it clear that he would do so, I made no such agreement."

His face turned puce, "Don't talk back to me, woman," he spat, slapping her across the face. "I'm going upstairs to punish the freak for his laziness."

He stomped upstairs as his wife Petunia held her face in shock. He'd never hit her while sober before. She snapped out of it when she heard a thump, realizing that Harry was being beaten, and, choking down a sob, picked up the phone to call for help.

After she had put down the receiver, Dudley arrived home. "Whats going on, mum? Oh my god, what happened to your face?"

"Your father happened. Please, I know with your boxing skills you have a chance. Go help Harry, before Vernon causes him any real damage."

Dudley paled a little, but steeled himself as rage for his mother and his cousin filled him, a nod dipping his head before he turned and ran up the stairs. He didn't like what he saw. In fact, he felt a bit sick.

_**Five minutes later**_

Harry was unconscious, and in a sorry state. Dudley stood in front of him, shielding his prone form from any more attacks. Dudley had taken a couple of punches, hard ones, but he took them like a pro and remained standing, for the cousin he had always hated. His mother explained a lot as soon as he got home and away from Vernon. Dudley dropped his childish prejudice immediately, for he was having doubts anyway. He agreed to help Harry whenever it was needed, and despite the pain of the punches – Vernon was strong – there was nowhere he would rather be right now. He was finally making up for years of unfair treatment. Suddenly, two policemen burst into the room, and attempted to apprehend Vernon. However, Vernon let out a yell and threw an adrenaline fuelled punch at one of the officers, knocking him sideways, and threw an elbow into the other constable's midsection, knocking the wind out of him.

Dudley saw his chance, Vernon was distracted. He changed his stance, flexed his fist and swung. His father lifted slightly off the ground, and skidded along the carpet outside Harry's room, unconscious. The winded officer handcuffed vernon and, with a pained grin at Dudley, lifted him out of the room, while the other officer asked for a hand up.

As Dudley hauled him to his feet, the officer offered congratulations on a good hit. "Where did you learn to deliver a punch like that?"

"School, I'm the amateur boxing champ there."

"Impressive. Right, well, I'll need a statement. I'll get one from your mother afterwards, unless it is as I suspect. She might be going with her husband to the constabulary, in which case the statement will be taken there."

"What about Harry?"

"The paramedics are here, they were just getting everything out of the ambulance."

"Okay, I'll give a statement, so long as you take me to the hospital to see Harry afterwards."

The officer agreed to drive him to Greater Whinging University Hospital, and pick up his mother from the station after the statement. Dudley and the officer – who gave his name as David to put Dudley at ease – relocated to the kitchen, where they talked about Harry's past life, exactly what happened within the house, and exactly what happened earlier that day.

"Well David, I suppose I'll have to start from the beginning. Hallowe'en '81, Harry's parents were murdered by a terrorist," after all, he couldn't give everything away "who went by the name of Voldemort. His real name is something Riddle, my mum said. Anyway, because of a family argument my dad, and until recently I thought my mother as well, hated Harry's side of the family. Harry's mum, Aunt Lily as she probably would have been, was Mum's sister.

"He was sent to live with us, and my dad always mistreated him, and I won't deny I used to bully him. My dad always called him the freak, and to be honest I was parroting my father's beliefs. I never looked hard at Harry and saw the great person he truly is. However, he got back from school a few days after me – we both go to boarding schools - and before he did my mum told me everything. How she didn't hate Aunt Lily or Uncle James, but that my father hated them and would occasionally resort to household violence if she ever said anything positive in their defence. She sisn't leave because she didn't want to risk losing custody over us and wanted to stay until we could leave, to ensure we were safe.

"She told me Harry was to be left alone because a friend of his had died in front of his eyes, and he could do nothing. She knew anything we did would offer no comfort, so we were to simply make no demands. Harry never showed this summer, so we left him a meal whenever we ate, inside his room. I wanted to give him space, so whenever I took up his meals I left them inside his cat-flap,"

Here, David rose an eyebrow. "Cat-flap?"

"Yeah... that was when Dad locked him in his room all summer. They were for leaving him meals. Did you notice the locks on his door? Dad put those up and used them every summer. He expected them to be in use this summer. However, whenever he got home, he was so drunk he never noticed, then slept in. Because this meant he was late for work every morning, he wouldn't have time to check. However, Harry still didn't surface. We left him to his grief.

"This morning, I went out to a friend's house. When I arrived back, Mum was putting down the phone. I assume it was from phoning you guys. Anyway, Mum had a huge mark on her face and when I asked she just said it was my dad. Then she asked me to go help Harry. I think she was worried my father was going to kill him, because she wouldn't have wanted me taking on my father otherwise.

"Luckily, due to my boxing experience, I could beat not on power, because his build is stronger than mine, but technique. That was probably the best fight I've given, and I'm damn proud of that punch," He grinned, and then his whole demeanour changed, and he lowered his head into his hands. "Harry was in a sorry state," he mumbled, "My father was thrashing him with his belt, growling 'It's your fault, It's your fault, It's your fault,' over and over again. I think he lost his job. It wouldn't surprise me. He was drinking more every day, and being later in than ever.

Dudley took a deep breath. "Here's the worst part... He, he... smashed the buckle into Harry's head, and laughed." Dudley started to cry. David silently got a bit of toilet roll for Dudley to wipe his eyes. David was feeling a bit shaken himself. Not so much about the abuse because he saw abuse fairly often, sadly, but the worst of it was who it was happening to. This boy was an orphan who had just lost another person important to him, and then this happens.

Dudley finished the story, "Well, I pushed him back onto the wall, and basically got in front of Harry. I couldn't let him near him again, Harry wasn't moving. I thought he was gonna die, but luckily I could channel this fear into a sort of anger, or an adrenaline if you will. Using this emotional fuel, I decided now was the time to make amends for Harry's life. A couple of minutes later you guys turned up, and thanks to the distraction I was able to get a knockout hit."

David collected himself, shook Dudley's hand, and thanked him for the statement. "Well, shall we be going?" Dudley smiled. "Gladly." he stated.

Xxxx : Mrs. Figg and cats : xxxX

Arabella Figg was walking her cats – a fairly common magical custom. Strange as it may seem, it was rather popular in the wizarding world. Cats are intelligent, and the actual action of walking the cat is more that the cat walks the owner, who just follows where the cat leads them. As every day, the cats led her past number 4 Privet, Harry's house, as she'd wanted. She'd made this clear to them, that every walk must include Harry's house, just to check everything was alright. She was starting to think this was pointless, as nothing ever happened to him, he stayed in all day. She would have been worried, but his window faced onto the street, and she could see him leaning against the window from time to time.

She saw a police car heading down the street.

"Odd, usually nothing's happening around here, this is the dullest and most prudish street I know." She involuntarily felt a little bit of happiness build in her. "Maybe there's some gossip in this?"

As disgusted as she was for caring about the local gossip, it really was the locals rubbing off on her.

She couldn't see anything happening in the house, it really didn't look like anyone was in there. She went up to the house mentally creating some excuse for asking after the boy.

_'Maybe I could ask for his help around my house. Something about 'Me 'ealth ent what it used ta be'?'_

She rang the bell, and waited. And waited still. She rang again. No-one was in .

'Hmm. I'll have to check again tomorrow. Meanwhile, I'll give Albus a heads up about this. I really don't understand why he removed the guards, though. The man really doesn't make sense.'

She returned to her house, allowing her cat to guide her.

Xxxx : Police Station : xxxX

Petunia was at the station with her son and the police officer who had driven them there, filling out paperwork for her nephew.

"I plan to file for divorce. I would have done so long ago but I wanted to be totally sure the kids would be out of his grasp. I couldn't let them face him alone."

"I admire you for sticking it out, Mrs Dursley."

"Petunia, please, or at least Mrs Evans. I'm not staying a Dursley much longer."

"Right, well ,Petunia I think we're finished here. One of my colleagues is waiting to take you to the hospital to go see your nephew, and then you may do as you wish. Your son is with Officer Simpson and will be accompanying you there. I'm assuming you will take full custody of them both? "

"Of course," Petunia said softly, as Dudley nodded earnestly.

"Goodbye Mrs Evans."

"Goodbye officer."

Xxxx : Surgery Room; DreamVSReality : xxxX

_"John... get the drip...Now, damnit, we're losing him!" _a male voice ripped through the air, making Harry's head pound in a headache.

_"Jesus... this boy is so malnourished it is unbelievable that he is alive right now..."_ another voice, clearly female, said loudly, almost frightened but stable.

_"Oh god... I can count this kid's ribs..." _this third voice was echoed by a fourth, a loud growl as one of the doctors ran from the room to get the IV's needed.

Harry could hear this, and various other voices. He could also hear what sounded like several people bustling around. Strange noises invaded his ears, a running tap, the snap of a somebody putting on a rubber glove. Bemusedly, he thought, 'What a strange dream... usually mine are about Sirius...' He burst into tears at the thought of the name, still half asleep.

One of the voices said "Jesus, look at the poor kid, probably doesn't even know what's happened to him."

It was at this point that Harry realised this wasn't a dream.

"He's awake," said one of the doctors.

"Where am I?" his voice sounded feeble, even to his ears. Luckily, the doctor closest to him heard and answered softly:

"You're in the hospital, kiddo. Look, you're bashed up pretty bad. We'll need to operate, so just breathe and we'll take care of you," he said, putting a mask to his face.

**Harry was out like a light.**

Xxxx : With Petunia (Holly) and Dudley (Rob) : xxxX

"How is he, Doctor?"

"He should be fine Ms Evans. The operation thus far has been a success, but he'll have ot stay still for a few days. The total injury list was a hairline fracture vertically heading down the skull, three broken ribs, some internal bleeding, and a broken arm. He is stable, the doctors are just setting the rest of the broken bones, he will be fine soon."

"Thank god for that... I don't want to lose my only relative my age." replied Dudley.

Xxxx : In Harry's Dream : xxxX

Harry was dreaming. Swirls of clouds, bringing forth cloudy visions of the ones he would attempt to keep his mind from. His mother; Dad; Sirius; Cedric. They were all swirling around his mind in a foggy haze, until suddenly he couldn't take it anymore, and the images began to fade before coming forth one by one, to taunt him and humiliate him:

_**A ghostly form, in a Hogwarts robe takes shape;**_

_"Take it together..."_

"Why did you let me die? You knew it was a portkey! You knew Moody was a fake!" Cedric shouted, tearfully. "Why? It is all your fault..."

_**The gas reforms, but Cedric's accusing shouts of "It's your fault!" continue...**_

"You led me there deliberately, damn it! You knew it was a set up! Was I too much of a hindrance? All your fault..."

_**The smoky Sirius dissipated, but once again the morbid chorus of "It's your fault... All your fault" continues...**_

_**Meanwhile a pain built in Harry's brain, like somebody was bending part of his mind until it snapped.**_

_"Lily, it's him! Take Harry and go_!"

"He wouldn't have come after us if it wasn't for you! It's all your fault..."

_**Four voices muttered the words... "All your fault..." over and over, again and again...**_

_**The pressure built, then... snap! With a noise Harry couldn't tell if he'd heard or just felt, the pressure released.**_

Xxxx : In The Hospital : xxxX

_"Guys! He's going into shock!"_

_"Quick, get him stabilised! We're losing his vitals!"_

_"Jesus, no heartbeat!"_

_"Someone get the defibrillators. I'm gonna get this kid started again..."_

_"CLEAR!"_

_The doctor sent a pulse. Harry went into convulsions, his back rigid aginst the operating table, sweat flush on his skin. "Check him."_

_"Nothing."_

_The process was repeated._

_"Pulse, check."_

_"Thank god, we've got him back."_

_**xxxx**_

Two days later, Harry woke up, in the hospital bed, a changed person. He had experienced recall, a magical phenomena that had happened to only one other known person, and was brought about by great mental pain.

**Flashback**

**"Harry, I want to tell you something, in private." Harry looked up.**

**"Sure Siri." They went into Sirius' bedroom.**

**"This may come as a shock to you Harry, but you need to know the truth. Dumbledore is untrustworthy. Simple as that. I do not work for the order, actually me and Remus are part of another organisation. Not the Death Eaters, but we are under orders to see if the order of the phoenix is worth joining for the outer branches of society. Remus works for the Werewolves, and i for the Vampires. They accepted me as we are outcasts, who are to be apprehended upon sight, then killed as soon as we are out of the public's sight. I choose to work for them, as I no longer trust Dumbledore."**

**Sirius pointed at a stone bowl on his bedside table. "That pensieve contains some of mine and Remus' memories. I think you need to know what we found."**

**Feeling slightly nervous, but trusting Sirius completely, Harry touched the silvery liquid, and was sucked into the memories.**

**Sirius was lurking in the kitchen with a thoughtful look upon his face, but showed some faint reaction when some faint murmuring came from the direction of the study. Intrigued, Sirius moved closer.**

**"... too much trouble. I'll have him disposed of..." Old man's voice, undoubtedly Albus However, it was somewhat muffled making it difficult to make out all the words. Albus always had a quiet voice.**

**"How will you do that, Albus?" Scottish accent, probably McGonagall.**

**"...as bait for Voldemort. When he...he'll come running. I'm sure he is irresponsible enough to get himself killed... "**

**The memories paused, and Harry was sucked from the bowl. "There is more, but I need to ask you something. As you can see, Dumbledore is not the hero that he is portrayed as. We are being played for fools. I don't know who the plans are for, but I can guess. Everyone is gonna have to watch their step. I can't expose this yet, though. I need to get it to the vampires and werewolves. They will do it for me. I do not plan on having the vampires or werewolves join Voldemort and I suspect they will follow my advice, and Remus'. We are their only spies in the order, so they have to trust our judgement. I plan on making a recommendation. They throw their support behind you. Whatever side you join, I will. As will Remus. As will the Dark Creatures. Whether it be Evil, Good or something else altogether. After all, evil and good are trading places in this war at the moment. So, will you accept?"**

**Harry wanted to reject him, 'I can't run an army, damn it!'**

**"Harry, your status will be that of a very trusted advisor, and you need not worry about command. Both sects of dark creatures have well constructed military systems. You will never be left in the dark."**

**Harry sighed, "Very well."**

**At that moment, Dumbledore burst through the door, fury twisting his face. "You forget, Black... Walls have ears. Obliviate!" He snarled.**

**End Flashback**

Harry realised so much that he should have realised before now. Dumbledore was avoiding his eyes. He had read a while ago about how memory charms can leak if the victim is exposed to eye-contact with the caster. This is known as magnetic drainage, and is an affect of many long term offensive spells.

Also, was Dumbledore's target Sirius? Dumbledore knew Harry's mind was undefended, he may have known about Voldemort making plans to go retrieve the prophecy. Also, why was he to believe that the prophecy? Voldemort may believe it, but Harry was not going to assume Dumbledore was telling the truth. In fact, wasn't it rather suspicious that in third year Dumbledore made it clear that Trelawney had made a prophecy before the one referring to Wormtail? Wait, doesn't that raise another...

'This is giving me a headache' Thought Harry. 'I need to get these questions written down...'

The ward door opened, and a doctor entered. "Ah, you're awake. You were out for a while , the surgery went well, and you will be able to leave in a few days. All the breaks are set, and so long as you are careful, you should be fine. However, you did go into shock once we thought you were stable, and your heart stopped. Luckily, you came out just fine."

"Right, well I'd advise getting some more sleep, as rest is always the best way to heal after a difficult ordeal. You will be continually tired for a while, due to the sedatives in your body."

Harry laid his head on the pillows, and was out like a light.

_**xxxx**_

He had had this dream many times before:

_**"Lily, it's him! Take Harry and run!"**_

_**"No, not Harry, Take me instead!"**_

_**"Stand aside, you foolish girl!"**_

**What the hell! Voldemort's voice changed, it was never that tone before. This voice radiates with power and age... Oh hell. No way. No way was Dumbledore there. No... that can't be right, surely not. No, it must be true. The bastard must have obliviated me...'**

Harry sprang to a seated position, in his Hospital bed in Greater Whinging. "I'm gonna rip that old murderer to pieces..." he muttered.

_Please review! :D As stated at the top; this is a REPOST story from the Abandoned version (.net/s/2437986/3/Uproot_the_Mind) . please do feel free to read both versions, I just got tired of reading un-finished stories and decided, since this one hasn't been touched for about 5 years, why not finish it? Considering, in the world of writing (or rather, Role Play), once something is abandoned after more than 4 months, it is Forfeit by the Original Owner. :D_

_I know, not exactly NORMAL, but, eh. I'll take what I can get. So, please do review, and make sure to pick up your cookies made by Lucius Malfoy and his son Draco! They volunteered Purely out of their hearts!_

**Draco: **Uhm, no I didn't! Filthy mudblood!

**Me: ***covers heart* wow, Draco. That actually hurt.

**Lucius:** *sniggers*

**Draco/Me:** SHUT UP LUCY!

**Lucius:** *glowers and goes back to baking cookies*


	2. Discoveries

Continued from last time:

_**Prologue :D**_

Harry's still hoping for a bit of a break, poor shouldn't have to take so much strain yet the world forces this on him. He always was the downtrodden 'freak' beneath the heels of all he knew, and then eventually, suddenly the homecoming hero – "Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back..." - The one raised upon a pedestal. How did a world expect someone like this to cope?

Needless to say however, he did cope, and did so admirably. In his own way of course, which was... unorthodox to say the least. Fighting trolls is a strange way to go about being a celebrity, but hey, whatever works. And work it certainly does. Eat your Hart out, Gilderoy!

However, he didn't realise that going playing at hero got people killed. Harry was well trained by those who wish to manipulate him; at the first sign of danger, he'd jump into the fray. Can that boy not unlock his Slytherin side? You know, the one that always, without fail makes sure he will stay alive before jumping in. Bravery is a Gryffindor trait, and Godric died young. Salazar lived to one hundred and ninety nine years old, while Gryffindor to just fifty-nine.

Xxxx : Note : xxxX

Author: Jacobim Von Styluss

Original Note by Author as listed above.

Note: In my fanfic, G, S: & K: are the symbols to be used for money. They are used in the same way as £ and $ signs. For example, twelve galleons, two sickles and three knuts is written G:12,S:2,K:3. Also, if you were to check my calculations in a part of this chapter, you would find a galleon to be worth £8.50. (I'm a Brit, so I don't really know $s)

Xxxx : Note : xxxX

Harry had spent the last few weeks on his bed, pondering the many mysteries of life; 'Does God exist? If so, why does he hate me? If not, is there many minor deities, like those of ancient religion? In which case, which one of them really has it in for me?' These were but a few of his repertoire of self-pitying, dark thoughts, whipping around his head at the speed of the Knight Bus. While he hated the fact that he was deeply engrossed in self pity, there really was nothing else to do.

However, he thought he now totally understood what had happened to cause him to regain memories – exactly what happened to Bertha Jorkins, simply set off by a different trigger. Bertha Jorkins regained her memories when she was put under the Cruciatus curse for a sustained period of time.

Harry had thought long and hard about the Cruciatus curse for many hours, and came up with a theory. The Cruciatus curse did not create physicalpain. It built up mental pain, that was translated into physical, by the nature of the curse. It was designed to stimulate the nerves in the body via the brain. Under the pressure of such mental trauma, thememory barriers created by obliviatessnapped. Since somebody who had been obliviated was rare, with it being a 'grey' curse (formerly dark, but classified as vital to wizarding society, and was now restricted but not prohibited), this recall was never noted.

In fact, it had almost certainly happened to some muggles who had been obliviated. After greatly traumatic events, some muggles were believed to have gone delusional. They would remember seeing mystical and strange creatures, and dark cloaked figures, like Death Eaters. As muggles knew nothing of recall, it was assumed the mental trauma had driven these people insane, whereas they had merely stumbled upon a unicorn, or had been caught in a death eater attack.

'I wonder why complex research has not gone into the affects of things like this. All you need is common sense...'. However, his answer was provided when he remembered something Hermione once said; "Most wizards don't have a scrap of logic..."

_'You never said a truer word, Hermione.'_ Harry's mind voiced softly.

It occurred to Harry, that with simple logic, he could create many different useful things. For example, surely someone with a strong knowledge of muggle electronics, working in tandem with wizarding researchers could surely invent electrical systems which work in high magic places.

In fact, Harry had plans. He knew exactly who he wanted for his researchers.

'Those two will love the idea...'

Xxxx : The Hospital : Part Two : xxxX

About a month after he was admitted, Harry Potter was released from Greater Whinging Hospital with a warning to be careful. Harry rolled his eyes at that one, but thanked the medical staff greatly. Harry always appreciated the efforts of those who helped him, and those who helped him for reasons other than his celebrity status had his gratitude tenfold.

He and his relatives had talked many times during his weeks in the Hospital, recovering from his abuse. They had come to an agreement of sorts, and Harry had forgiven his aunt and cousin. His aunt's poor treatment of him was because of truly limited options, while his cousin knew no better. By now, they were on amiable terms, and they planned to stay by his side while they could, providing the familial support he lacked through his younger years, and hopefully keeping him grounded.

Xxxx : Diagon Ally : xxxX

Harry had made plans while bedridden, and the first of them included finding some way to reach Diagon Alley. However, the knight bus operated only during the nights, and he had no floo access anywhere nearby, he was forced to catch the train. Luckily, Petunia had a credit card to pay for their tickets, so they headed to London. They made it to London with little difficulty, and found the Leaky Cauldron, stopping in a clothes shop & a chemists en route. Harry now had no visible scar, and a whole new look. Nobody was likely to recognise the Boy-who-Lived for the duration of this trip. Harry, taking his relatives through the barrier, headed into Diagon Alley.

"Funny names your places have. Diagon Ally?" pointed out Dudley.

"Don't forget Knocturn Ally, Dudley – Dark place that is." Harry smirked, knowing full well only his aunt knew the real meaning behind it.

"Right, well first we're going to the bank." Directed Harry.

**Xxxx : Gringotts Bank : xxxX**

Harry's relatives were interesting in their reactions to the goblins. Dudley's eyes bulged. "What the hell?" he whispered to Harry, tugging his sleeve like a three year old. Petunia's reaction intrigued Harry. She looked interested, without doubt, but not too surprised.

"Ah, Mr Potter," said the goblin, once Harry had shown his key to the warty creature in the booth. "we have been attempting to contact you for quite a while. May I enquire what kept you from providing a response? Normally, you should schedule an appointment for the matters of which we must speak."

Harry raised an eyebrow at this. "I have been in hospital for the past..." Harry began to reply. "No, no," the goblin cut him off, "We cancelled all correspondence while you were in hospital, in accordance with the secrecy act, but we have been trying to get through to you for months, since before your exams. It's a good thing you came when you did. Come, follow me. Your relatives can come also." They were ushered into a medium sized room behind the booth.

"Why do you need me, and also why so soon?" He wondered aloud, once settled into one of the exceptionally comfortable chairs inside the fairly plain but comfortable office. He didn't ask about not receiving mail from them. Dumbledore probably sifted through everything. The only question is why?. While the man was evil, there was no reason to simply irritate Harry. That would achieve nothing. However, the matter would be clarified for Harry very soon.

"Mr Potter, you are to go through an inheritance ritual."

This confused Harry. There was two faults with this statement. One, hadn't all of Sirius' possessions been confiscated upon his arrest? Sirius was still a wanted fugitive to the ministry. Secondly, why would they have wanted him before the exams? It hadn't happened until midway during one of his last exams. He voiced confusion, although of a different type. He couldn't admit to knowing a convict, the ministry would see it as their chance to finally put Harry away. So he asked who he was inheriting from.

"Surely you did not believe that your trust fund was your only supply of monetary support left by your parents?"

"Trust fund?"

"Evidently you did..." Murmured the goblin, below his breath. He sighed before explaining to the young wizard, "Your parents set up a trust fund for casual spending, while the Potter vault would be under the control of your legal guardian. However, this failed to happen, due to Mr. Black's subsequent arrest and illegal imprisonment. Anyway, control must be returned to the Potter heir at the age of sixteen, otherwise the vault is forfeited. A family vault would normally be forfeited to the ministry, but in the case of an elite pureblood family vault, such as yours, it will be given to the Wizengamot. And therefore, Mr. Dumbledore. To be honest with you, Mr. Potter, Dumbledore is a criminal. I myself have collected a great deal of information which may interest you about Mr. Dumbledore's dealings. The goblin council have read through it already, and decided they have no trust in this man. Therefore, we will limit any transactions that he makes, and all accounts he is in control of will be heavily monitored."

The Goblin handed Harry a file. Harry flicked through, it seeing a couple of photos, and a lot of script, "Thanks, I'll read through it later."

_'This may come in useful... blackmailing Dumblefuck should be fun_,' He thought gleefully.

"So, Mr Potter, as I am sure you are aware, you have reasonable grounds to take Albus Dumbledore to court. We can arrange a law firm to build an organised case against him. Do you wish to press charges at this time?" asked the goblin.

"Hmm... not yet I think. I think I will wait for the right moment, then strike. It will take a great deal of public slandering, and perhaps some tactful ministry donations. That will butter fudge up nicely... On that subject, how much money do I have?"

"At the moment, about twelve thousand galleons, but that will increase when your family wealth is added, of course. Liquid assets in your family vault come to approximately G: 14,250,000. Or, if would rather, £121,250,000."

Harry whistled, Dudley's jaw dropped, and Aunt Petunia fainted.

After Dudley had been warned about catching flies, and Petunia had been picked up and soaked (Well, she had to be woken up somehow...), Harry asked "If those are liquid, what about invested?"

"Well, Mr Potter, This is a bit of a strange subject. We goblins a while ago chose to offer a service where we would invest a reasonable portion of the wealth. Your parents agreed, and we have been doing this for a while.

"I am currently the controller of those investments, and understand that for you, investments are about more than money. I decided to create a set-up where you would have a great deal of power over the world. Thus, You own the Daily Prophet (Although they don't know this yet), have controlling shares in the WWN, and own Hernan's Arms, which is a global magical and muggle weaponry store You also own many others, but those are simple investments, not strategic resources.

"Hernan's is the only one of these who know of your ownership. The England branch...well, door at least, is in an alley near Ollivander's. Not Knockturn though, this is Siecoe Path we are talking about. A useful place for those seeking... ah, unique establishments.

"A muggle weaponry shop is almost unheard of in wizarding England, and various other shops are in that road. Most have never heard of it though, so you needn't worry about buying, shall we say, slightly more questionable items than the norm, such as dark artefacts. No-one will see you, or at least, they won't care. Those loyal to the ministry are not welcome in Siecoe, for Siecoe tends towards anarchy more than anything else. T'is a fascinating place.

"I would recommend that you visit this place, for it is a place of great value to those who have visited it. To find it, you simply have to want to. There is a wall near the wand-makers that will vanish as you concentrate. Once you are through, it shall reappear. This road is spelled so only those who have no desire to go spilling the secrets of Siecoe to those who do not truly need it.

"By the way, Hernan's is a truly remarkable shop. You will understand why as you visit it. Now, I believe you wish to be acknowledged as the Potter heir, as well?" Harry's response was a nod.

The goblin led them to a simple room, with what looked like an old typewriter, made from copper, in the centre. However, there was a large hole in the top also.

Once Harry had, upon the goblin's direction, dripped a small droplet of his blood into the hole on top, the machine began to print out a list of assets:

**Monies:**

_Main Vault: _G: 14 390 780 S:4 K:8

_Trust Vault_ : G: 8 000

**Stocks:**

_100 ownership, Daily Prophet, newspaper_ – Worth App. G: 3 000 000

_100 ownership, Hernan's Arms, Weaponry store_ – Worth App G: 90 000

_78 majority, Wizarding Wireless Network_ – Worth App G: 2 300 000

_33 share, Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, Joke shop-_ Worth App G: 1300

(Various others were listed underneath here)

**Charities:**

St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Muggleborn and Muggle-raised Half-blood Fund (**Run By the Potter Vault Caretaker**)

**Artefacts:**

The Potter Knives.

Fenestrus

The Claro Calx.

The Celeritas armoury.

More artefacts, and other items of smaller interest was displayed, and then it asked a question.

'_Do you wish to become the head of Potter House?'_

Quickly, Harry responded with a "yes!" to the machine's question.

'_Please state your name and then repeat after me.'_

"Harry James Potter."

'_I, Harry James Potter, do so claim the most Noble and Ancient House of Potter for my own.'_ The machine sputtered, the words appearing on the screen for Harry to repeat. Only after Harry had finished speaking, did the machine print out another piece of paper stating his claim and legality.

_'Harry James Potter is now legally the Head of House Potter. Since he is now the head of the Noble House of Potter, he is emancipated with immediate effectively. He is also granted the right given to a person of age twenty-one, in both the Muggle and Wizarding Worlds. The statement of assets and charities has been perforated before this text. Please remove, as it will immediately and automatically update depending upon the assets. If the statement is misplaced, inform the Gringotts staff of this, and they will ensure a new one is created.'_

It then printed out several legal documents, such as a birth certificate, a statement of emancipation and a slip allowing the taking of his apparition test amongst others.

_THUNK_! A small compartment shot out of the machine, containing a key, _'This is the key to Vault 107 – Potter, Family. You already possess the key to Potter, Trust.'_

"Come Mr. Potter, I believe you want to visit your vault."

"Yes, yes of course. Also, I need a full report on anything my magical guardian, Albus Dumbledore, has done with my vaults and other possessions." The goblin bowed, responding only with a murmured, '_Yes, Mr. Potter.'_

While in the cart transporting them to 107, Harry asked the goblin a question. "What is your name?"

"Grillkrup, Mr. Potter." he replied, looking slightly surprised. He was rarely noticed by wizards.

"Please, call me Harry. However, can I ask a question... Can you be a legal representative?"

"Do you wish me to represent you in court?" The goblin looked shocked. Nobody wanted goblins to do anything but banking.

"Of course, after all you found the dirt on Dumbledore, you seem to understand the legalities, and you haven't stood for what Dumbledore was doing even before I knew everything. Also, your forward planning impressed me hugely, for example, your investments made on my behalf. It will be very useful to have the media under my thumb, and some fire-power is useful as well."

"Thank you Mr. Potter. While a goblin cannot be a legal representative, I have heard of some loopholes in the legislations relating to this. For example, I could simply tell you what to say as you say it, because legally a goblin doesn't really exist. I could actually stand by your side, with my voice in your ear whenever you need it. The loophole is only there so we can be swiftly executed without repercussions, if need be (Rebellions, and such). However, Mr. Potter, you needn't worry. We have taken precautions against such a measure."

"In that case, would you like to be my... advisor? I want you to continue to deal with my legal affairs, my accounting, and possibly be a liaison to the goblins if need be. I won't deny my need to possibly make alliances."

"Of course Harry, and... thank you. A wizard giving responsibility to a goblin, trusting a goblin, is a rare thing. I am honoured" said Grillkrup. He was beaming.

_The cart arrived at their destination. "Well, Harry. We've arrived."_

_A huge door, with 107 carved into it in flamboyant lettering, slowly opened. The sight they saw when it opened made his eyes water..._

Xxxx : End of Original Chapter Three : xxxX

»•»∞«•«

Xxxx : Beginning of Chapter Four : xxxX

This sight was actually... nothing. There was a good reason they could see nothing however, which was the blinding amount of dust pouring out of the door.

"Think I'll have to get the cleaners in soon..." said Grillkrup. "It has been a while since I last opened this one up."

"How does dust get in if the door is kept closed?" asked Harry.

"You know, I really have no idea." replied Grillkrup.

As Grillkrup pondered the mystery of dust, Harry was braving the storm (Dudley and Petunia were wisely staying away), and diving into the 'smoke'. "Grillkrup, can you do a spell on this? This dust is getting in my eyes,"

Grillkrup answered, "Goblin magic doesn't work like that. You need sigils, all sorts of things. Why don't you do it? Now you're emancipated, you are free to do magic at your own discretion."

Harry grinned happily, then used a fresh air charm to sort out the dust, and a targeted evanesco to clear the dust that had laid inside the vault. Now he could see clearly, he could tell one thing. This vault was weird. It looked like an mansion's entrance hall, with steps leading down from the entrance. It was grand, perhaps too gaudy for the tastes of most. Gold and jewels made up the décor, and any but a goblin or the Malfoys would be amazed, or at least interested. As it were, Grillkrup strode through the vault door, and headed to the far side. The room was rectangular, with the entrance on one side, a huge door opposite, and on the walls perpendicular to these, there were two small ordinary doors.

Grillkrup idly gestured to the door on the left, in passing, saying "Artefacts," then at the left, stating "Documentation", and they then arrived at the gold vault doors. "Money" said Grillkrup. There was a small machine, similar to a TV screen. It worked on touch screen, and allowed Harry to select any information. Menu choices included Money (Liquid), Money (Total), Money (Invested), Artefacts list, Charities list, and many others. This was a foray into the muggle-wizard technology that Harry had spoken of. Harry asked his advisor of this.

"Well, we had a human family working who had a squib in the family. He was a very good Computer Hardware Consultant in the muggle world, and thus was able to explain it to some of our people. This is our first success. While it is productive and very valuable, for yours is the only one, it is also fairly impractical. Goblins who understand technology, or even care about it are rare. Therefore, we never got very far.

"I personally find it fascinating, and love this. I heard it was based off a muggle 'ATM' but reacts to magical signature, rather than PIN number. It shouldn't matter much because it's in your vault so nobody is likely to steal, but we may have one placed outside one of these days. It would be much more efficient than going to vaults every time.

"You can actually withdraw money from it. It comes in bags with outwardly identical sizes, but are actually often the size of a pillowcase. They also have magical signature charms built in. This way, only you can take money from them. As you may have guessed, it is rather good business to prevent theft."

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"GRILLKRUP!"

"Yes Harry?" Sighed Grillkrup, entering the Artefacts room after exiting the paperwork area.

The Artefacts room was like a library, with objects neatly stacked everywhere. In one corner, an entire set of armoured clothing, made of a fine mesh metal. Elsewhere, weapons, amulets and obscure items littered the shelves.

"What does this do?"

"Let me take a look." Grillkrup removed some tiny glasses from his pocket and perched them on his nose. He held the blade that Harry offered. He examined the ornate silver and diamond blade, with it's complex runes for a while. "Looks like one of the Potter knives. They're damn useful. They cut through anything except flesh or heavily enchanted metal. They are unbreakable. They were invented by a pacifist who simply hated offensive tools. He was an excellent student, teacher and eventually headmaster at Hogwarts, was Quentin Potter. He is your seven times great-uncle."

"He actually made something similar for Gringotts. We give it to curse breakers as a sort of bonus. They keep it for one job, and then pass it on. It's currently our curse-breaker of the month prize. They love it, because they can travel through forests quickly, and even cut through minor locks and occasionally walls. You know what they say, if there isn't a door, make one." Grillkrup sniggered.

"Cool... So, is there anything else useful in here?"

"Pass me the list from earlier, I'll see if I recognize anything." Harry did so, and the goblin began to read.

"Bless my soul, the entire Celeritas Armoury. That will be so useful. Celeritas was a legendary scout mage. He would find and engage countless amounts of dark wizards. His clothing aided him greatly in this respect. Celeritas was an average student at Hogwarts, but excellent at quidditch and dueling. He was physically talented, but his spellwork wasn't exceptional. Make no mistake, he was above average, but nothing legendary in that respect. Potters are always powerful. However, once he left school he made a large withdrawal from the vault, and travelled across the world for a while. He fell in with a group of Dwarves, and eventually became a master armourer. He created the Celeritas armoury. Each item has a different use."

They walked over to the fine mesh armour in the corner.

"See these shoes, they are enchanted for extra speed. These gloves increase your reflexes. This chest plate can block a hit from just about anything, and the only thing which can cut it is a Potter knife, actually."

"When Celeritas died surrounded by his family, of natural causes, he bequeathed it to his sons, where they would take a share of the armour each. However, none had the same talent with the items as their father, and these wonderful items faded from knowledge. I heard your reflexes are spectacular. Perhaps you will be the one to bring glory to these items once again?"

"I really do hope so," Harry nodded, looking around the room.

"Now," muttered Grillkrup, reading the list again. "Hmm... what do we have here?" Grillkrup raised his voice to normal speech. "The legendary claro calx of Everard Potter. He was a muggleborn who married into the family but took the name of Potter for his own and is your 5 times great grandfather, and nephew in law to Quentin, by the way. Quentin taught him a great deal, and now Everard is famed greatly throughout the world. The Claro Calx, or Clarity Stone is a simple rock, which, when in your possession, will greatly increase your intellect. It will improve your ability to comprehend, remember and learn. I advise you carry this at all times, because it also speeds up your thinking, allowing for wise split second decisions. That may save your life, and this stone was one of the reasons why Everard was noted as wise and unbelievably intelligent."

Grillkrup wandered over to a shelf and plucked from it a rock which was... strange. It looked peculiar, but he couldn't work out why. "It looks strange, Harry, because it isn't actually made of rock. It is solid platinum, as that is the only substance he knew which could take the stress of so much magic. The glamour charm would not be noticed by most, but you are greatly powerful. Everard was worried about the possible theft of the stone as it was made from such a precious metal. Thus, he chose to make it look mundane and ordinary. He was a Slytherin through and through." He passed the rock to Harry, who took it and placed it in his pocket. He was in no mood to interrupt the goblin now he was in the full flow. He was still trying to comprehend everything he had been told over the past half-hour or so.

Over the next hour, Harry was told of many other 'gadgets'. One of his favourites was Everard's other creation, Fenestrus. This was a simple mirror, seemingly (Everard loved to disguise items, he saw it as a challenge). However, stick it to a surface less than three feet thick, and it became a window seeing through the wall or door as the case may be. However, no visible affect was had upon the other side of the surface. Thus, Fenestrus was the ultimate spy tool. It also allowed for a small amount of sound to travel through, which was enough to be audible from close up.

Harry left the room grinning, but stopped when he saw his Aunt and Cousin sat at an elegant mahogany table, drinking tea from gold rimmed china cups. "Ermm... What the hell? I didn't see those there..."

Grillkrup gave him his answer, "This room is like a modified version of a certain room in Hogwarts. Any idea what I'm talking about?"

"Room of Requirement?"

"Bingo. However, this one was made by one not so strong as the founders combined, and thus is not as good as that version. This can only handle small needs, such as food, while the RoR at Hogwarts is designed for everything."

"That explains it, but why did they suddenly decide they needed tea in expensive cups?"

"Don't ask me, I'm a goblin. I hate tea."

Harry shrugged.

Xxxx : Discussing His Finances and Such : xxxX

After a refreshment break, where Harry chatted with his relatives on his new discoveries, Harry ended up in the paperwork room.

"Well, Harry. I've been doing a little research while you were in artefacts, and found a few thing that may interest you. However, first things first. I've dealt with the paperwork, and various other things that needed attention. Now you will find everything in order."

"Excellent. It's good to know my account is in such.. capable hands. I hope you will continue to keep such good care of my finances."

"I certainly plan to Mr Potter. Anyway, I've discovered you have several properties. The largest of these, and also the most protected, was Godric's Hollow. This has obviously been damaged, but not beyond repair. Also, you have a penthouse suite in New York, and a villa Madrid. Your ancestors always liked to be in the commercial world capitals. Godric's Hollow is the exception, however, this was built by Godric Gryffindor himself, who was related to the Potters. When he died, it was passed down amongst the Potter line, and eventually used as your parents safe-house, Harry. You also have a fairly grand house, in a street linking to Diagon Alley. It has five bedrooms, and so I have heard, very expensive decoration and fittings. Finally, as well as the half stake you own in Hogwarts due to your Gryffindor and Slytherin heritage, you own Durmstrang."

**"What!"**

"Yep, it is surprising isn't it?"

Dudley's voice echoed into the room from the doorway. "What's Durmstrang?"

"It's a school in Bulgaria." Harry and Petunia answered together, before looking sheepishly at each other.

"A wizarding school?"

"Yep. In fact, I think I'll head there. Come with me, I'll find something for you to do there. Perhaps potion making, it doesn't need any wizarding abilities."

"Harry?" Aunt Petunia walked in from outside.

"Yes, Aunt Petunia?"

"I have to ask you something, now I know you own a magical school. This is about you, Dudley. Dudley, I'm really sorry, but you should have been given a magical education. Since I had actually replied to your's, and not Harry's, we didn't got totally covered with letters for you."

"What, why did you refuse?" Dudley looked bewildered, so Harry jumped in with a sigh.

"Dud, think about it. Uncle Vernon would have treated you awful as well. She couldn't do anything about me, as my parents had already applied for my education there. She couldn't go against that. However, Aunt Petunia, as for your question, of course he can."

"I haven't asked the question yet,"

Harry interrupted "It's kinda obvious. Dudley, how do you feel about a formal education at Durmstrang Institute of Wizardry?"

"Y-yes, of course. Thanks..." Dudley stuttered, in shock that he was going to learn to use magic.

"Thank you, Harry."

"Aunt Petunia, were you a witch?"

"What?"

"Answer it."

Petunia sighed. "Ok, fine, I was but got expelled in sixth year. Most people don't remember Holly Evans, sister of Lily. I was a Slytherin. Petunia is really my middle name."

"So that's why you weren't surprised at the goblins?" asked Dudley. Harry was impressed, even with Dudley's own amazement, he managed to note his mother's lack of it, "Because you'd seen them before?"

Petunia shook her head, "Well, no actually, but close. I've never been to Gringotts before, but Lily mentioned them. James took her once."

"Why did Dumbles expel you?"

"There was a boy called David Gudgeon, who was a Gryffindor. Your father knew him, but didn't seem to like him much. He was a bit of an obsessive hanger-on."

"Sounds like Creevey. Wait a sec, is this the same David Gudgeon who nearly lost an eye because of the Whomping Willow?"

"Yes... He claimed I pushed him into it, and despite my protests, as well as Lily and the marauders, Dumbledore was adamant. I was expelled, and my wand was snapped. I changed my name to my middle name, so people would think I was a normal muggle rather than a witch. Nobody knew my name back then except the marauders and Lily. And, of course, my ex-boyfriend. We were in love, but we had to break up when I was expelled. There were no hard feelings though. I wouldn't have coped if there was. He was a pureblood, and being seen with a disinherited pureblood such as myself would mean disgrace. Me, you, Lily, Harry, we would fit in the pureblood elite. However, Vernon was every inch a muggle, and thus Dudley, you are not pureblooded. It doesn't really matter though, purity of blood is just an excuse for snobs to be stuck up little swines." Harry was impressed with his aunt, and it didn't even register until much later that he was, in fact, a pureblood. Not a half blood like many believed him to be.

**Xxxx : Hogwarts : xxxX**

Meanwhile, while Petunia was reminiscing upon her days in the wizarding world, an old wizard with a kindly face but an ruthless heart in a castle in Scotland was murmuring to himself. He found it helped him think. "Hmm... I've got Black out of the way, I've got his parents out of the way. Now, who might give him guidance against mine? Certainly not his traitorous friends, they will simply lead him to me. There are no flaws in my plan, and I have yet another pawn. Soon, he will come to me and only me for guidance. His power, once added to my own, will enable me to claim what I have been fighting for all these years. "

While there were no professors but him at the castle right now, and only one other staff member (Filch), speaking these words aloud was a mistake. While no man was around to hear it, a female did.


	3. Friends  Real or Fake?

_Prologue_

The days are numbered for the Headmaster. The truth is coming out, and soon people will know his crimes. The grandfatherly act is being seen through, and people will soon end him. Many a time I've heard of the attacks he's planned, to provoke fear in the hearts of the ordinary, and only the extra-ordinary can stop him. There are two men left who can truly oppose him, and alone the cannot win. His experience outnumbers theirs, and his two opponents are still at odds with each other. Only when the olive branch is extended, will Voldemort and Harry ally. One must make the first move, and until this happens, the war will continue.

While Voldemort may have not killed Harry's parents, he still is not a kind and generous man. He is a general, arrogant and in control. His ideals are beneficial to mankind, but he believes the ends justify the means, so long as more lives are saved than lost. Harry will be at odds with him even if he joins his ranks, for their personalities clash. Voldemort cannot allow himself to indulge in the small pleasures that bring great gratification, for he must be strong. However, by alienating himself from other people, he will eventually turn dark. Blocking human emotions destroys the soul, and this cannot happen. If it did, the two most experienced and powerful wizards in humankind will indulge in an all-destroying battle for dominance.

Only Harry could stop this. Harry must restrain voldemort, and exert control. Lack of progress has caused discontent amongst Voldemort's troops, and they are sliding from his grasp. If the army of Voldemort dissipates, Harry is on his own...

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry blinked as he and his relatives stepped from Gringotts into the bright sunshine. Harry looked up and down the street, savouring the view. It had been a while since he'd last been here, and considering his new plans, a while till he'd return. Luckily, there was a nice shopping centre in Greece, and so he would not have to struggle to shop. Durmstrang is situated on the Bulgaria-Greece borderline, and thus the Thessaloniki Wizarding Complex was a short apparition away.

He had various things he needed to deal with while in London. He knew for a fact that Hernan's did not have a branch in Thessaloniki, and he planned to organise another branch being opened. He also wanted to make stops at his various companies to make some long needed staff adjustments. With these goals in mind, he set off down Diagon, his aunt and cousin following behind.

Xxxx : Weasley's Wizards Wheezeys : xxxX

"Oi! Gred, Forge. We need to talk."

"Ah good sir, how corking of you to join us-" began Fred, followed closely by:

"Fancy a spot of supper?" – George, finished by Fred again.

We have some excellent Earl Grey brewing." Both spoke in an odd Mock-British Accent, though they didn't need to even try.

Harry sniggered at the twins, "No, we're fine. I need to talk business."

"Oh, how dull," they said, somehow exactly at the same time.

"Not this business. Trust me on this."

Fred Weasley, slowly twisted his head, to look his brother in the eyes. George Weasley, in perfect sync, did exactly the same. Both raised an eyebrow, then shrugged.

"How do you do that?" Harry asked, still in awe of the incredible knowledge of each other that the two had.

"Just comes naturally, Harry mate."

"You two are weird."

"Yes-" started one,

"We are." Finished the other.

Xxxx : Line break : xxxX

"Right, first question. What are you doing here, with the Dursleys, in fact?" Fred demanded, crossing his arms. He wasn't in the mood, knowing these people had hurt his little brother.

"We aren't Dursleys anymore," said Petunia and Dudley, at exactly the same time. They looked at themselves in surprise.

"How come everyone has a 'twin' but me?" Harry pouted, clearly feeling this was unfair.

Xxxx : Line break : xxxX

"Anyway, my relatives are here because we patched things up. I'm here because I need to go shopping." Harry said.

"Yeah, but we thought Dumbledore asked you to stay in Privet Drive. Surely you shouldn't go against him."

"God damn it! You sound like Hermione! Anyway, there are a few things you don't know about Dumbledore. They overrule any orders he has given me. Anyway, what use does staying at Privet Drive have? It isn't the house that protects me. It's my aunt. She's right here."

"You're got a point, but surely he has a reason for all this. Maybe he put up wards of his own?" George replied, sounding slightly doubtful. He shared a look with his twin, before returning his gaze to Harry.

Harry shot that straight down, "You can put more powerful wards on a smaller object, such as a ring, and then charm it so it can't be taken off. That would have kept me safe at Hogwarts as well."

George sounded desperate as he said, "But surely he has a reason..." he trailed off. Harry was holding a photo of Dumbledore obliviating them from the file Grillkrup had given him. His mouth shut softly, and all traces of desperation left his face.

They turned to him, slight curiosity on their face. "Can we trust a man like Dumbledore? I'm starting to doubt he had a good reason for that..."

"Fred, George, that is the least of his crimes, my friends. I'm leaving Hogwarts. I'm turning from him, and when the time is right I will have him arrested. That man will pay for his transgressions."

"Isn't arresting him a bit harsh?" Asked one of the twins, who had a bit of unease returning to his face. "Shouldn't you make allowances for his dedication to the light?"

"No. That man is not dedicated to the light." Harry then voiced a thought that had been buzzing around in his head for days. "Is that man light at all, or is he a con who simply wishes us to believe he isn't trying to gain an inexorable power over us? To be honest, I'm not sure that Voldemort is as bad as he is portrayed."

Fred and George looked slightly sceptical about this statement. "No matter how bad Dumbledore is, Voldemort is worse."

George looked to add something to Fred's outburst, but Harry beat him to it. "Did you know Dumbledore killed a Marauder, and ordered the death of another?"

George's mouth shut. "You mean, Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?" Fred stuttered.

"Damn right. You've met Padfoot and Moony. Padfoot was killed on Dumbledore's orders, and Prongs he shot the curse at himself."

Fred and George looked thunderstruck and torn, and slightly confused. However, they were never stupid, and thus realised who Padfoot and Moony were. "Sirius and Remus were part of the marauders!" When Harry replied with a nod, they said "Explains a lot, we suppose. Who was Prongs."

"Dad."

"What!"

Xxxx : Line break : xxxX

When the Weasley twins had gotten over their shock at finding Harry was a second generation marauder, they slowly came to realise what Harry had just said. "Did you just say your father was killed by Dumbledore?" Fred asked wide-eyed, while George gazed slack jawed at Harry, sputtering slightly.

"Yes. As was mum. Voldemort made no attack, my guess is that he attacked Godric's Hollow, then Voldemort. Voldemort was not killed properly as Dumbledore was too drained, after killing my parents..." By the end of this last sentence, Harry's fists were clenched in his anger, and small pulses of power were shooting away, knocking things off shelves, and cracking glass shelves. His aunt placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed comfortingly. Harry looked into her face, which bore a gentle smile. He slowly calmed down, and managed to get a proper hold over his magic. "Sorry guys," Harry apologized. "It's just that I really get furious when I think about it."

"Don't worry Harry, you paid for this in the first place. We still haven't gone through all the funding you gave us, and the business is worth almost four times that now." Fred and George were trying to change topic, as although they were extremely curious, they knew that they would get little more of importance, and also didn't want to upset their friend.

"You fund all this?" asked Dudley. "This place is awesome."

"Yeah, I'd just won a competition, worth a thousand galleons. At the current rate, that's £8500. I gave them it on the train home. This was at the end of fourth year. By the way guys," - Here he addressed the twins - "Whenever you need more, just ask. I know you'll spend it wisely, after all, you've done excellent so far. One bit of advice, hire Remus. After all, he's one of the few remaining marauders, and might be able to teach you something. He has a wicked side, that can't be denied"

"Cheers Harry."

"Right, Anyway I have a proposition for you. I think you'll like it, as if it works, you will be forever known, and probably become two of the richest people in existence." Throughout Harry's declaration, Fred & George grew more and more dumbstruck. By the end, they were almost drooling. They were businessmen, and would be forever.

Harry told them his suggestion, and their eyes began to cloud over with ideas. While it was a challenge which had been pored over a little, no major research had been carried out. They could finally change that. They could be pioneers.

"We need to get the patents. We heard a while ago that some small American company has them, but we could buy them. They couldn't come up with any ideas worth working with, and gave up after a while. They would probably sell the patents. However, we'd need a few thousand galleons more. I know it's expensive, but the fact is that the returns could be incredible."

"No problem, guys," Harry chuckled, "Just don't give me the details. I'm your sponsor, not a businessman. Anyway, I'm filthy rich. In fact, I'll set up a sub account from my main accounts, and put a lump sum in there. You'll get the key to it. I'll even ask my banker to top it up every month if it is too low."

The Weasley twins were beaming. "Consider it a belated birthday present. I didn't get you anything last year." Harry continued.

"You didn't have to Harry, a thousand galleons the year before would suffice for all of our birthdays. By the way, do you actually know our birthday?"

"Not for certain, but I can make a good guess."

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"So, you two. How's Ron and Hermione been?"

Fred and George looked at each other, identical worried looks on their faces before Fred answered, "Well, to be honest, they are completely self centred prats. They got together, and now they've had a really bad effect on each other. Hermione's getting bitchy, and Ron's got a stick so far up his arse, preaching the values of Great God Dumbledore."

Harry hung his head. He knew this would happen eventually, their personalities suited it. He'd been dreading this day for a year or so, since Ron pitched his jealousy fit in fourth year over the Triwizard Tournament.

In truth, he'd known Ron was shallow, but simply could not bring himself to break friends with him. Hermione got on his nerves a little as well, whenever he was around her. She grated him down, and irritated him to no end, not to mention the little put-downs, based on how much smarter she supposedly was.

"The bastards are really getting at you. It's strange really, but these days they say you are being melodramatic about everything, and playing for sympathy." It didn't surprise Harry, as Ron never knew what it was like to lose a loved one.

"He said, and I quote 'It's not like he knew Sirius, I knew him as well as Harry and I'm not moping. He sulked all through the end of last year and expected sympathy from us.' When we heard that, we expected Hermione to snap at him for being so callous. She didn't. She nodded."

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"They never knew Sirius even nearly as much as I did..." Harry mumbled softly that night, hiding his tear-streaked face in his pillow. He felt the bed dip on both sides as Dudley and his aunt sat down, Dudley's hand, surprisingly NOT Petunia's, being the one to rub gentle, consoling circles on his back.

"We know Harry, we know," Petunia said, running her fingers through her nephews hair. She couldn't imagine what her nephew was going through, after all, she'd never liked Sirius Black, but even Harry deserved some respect.

"I knew him, years ago. He was a good man, so full of life," Said Petunia. "When he was blamed for James and Lily's death, there was nothing anyone could do. I knew he wasn't the secret keeper, but Dumbledore ignored me. When he surfaced again, I used the excuse of being scared of him as a reason to treat you better, that Vernon couldn't refute."

"I never realised you knew about these sort of things. Damn it, since when have you been so understanding?" Harry chuckled weakly, then burst into tears.

Petunia drew the teen into a gentle hug, and let him cry onto her shoulder. Dudley, knowing what Harry needed, gave his mum a look before he rose from his side of the bed and left the room.

Xxxx : Earlier That Day : xxxX

The twins had left Harry and his relatives in the back of the shop, which served as half office, half lab. The returned to the shop, and proceeded to continue business. Luckily, they now had an assistant, who had been helping out in the shop, in return for a rather excellent wage.

"Hey Lee!"

"Yeah?"

"Don't go round the back, we've got a friend in there who needs leaving alone for a while."

Lee shrugged and got back to work.

Xxxx : Line Break; Present time : xxxX

Harry had dried his eyes, and was slowly catching a hold upon his emotions. The raging sadness inside him, which minutes ago was driving him to choked sobs, was fading and leaving a slightly lightened burden. Before now he had been able to talk about Sirius easily, but the emotion came to a head for the second time this summer. Now it was released, his guilt and sadness was lightened. There would be more episodes like this one, but they would steadily decrease in number.

Now, he had family to help him through. His cousin was still walking on eggshells a little with Harry; he really didn't know much about comforting people. His mother was best for that. Every time Dudley was upset when he was younger, his mum would come into his room, wrap him in a hug and whisper comforting platitudes. Now it was Harry's turn for the familial comfort. While some would be jealous, Dudley knew Harry needed it, and had never had it before.

Dudley smiled as he saw his cousin calming down and wiping his eyes. He knew his cousin was strong, and understood that he was going through more than Dudley would ever suffer. Dudley knew that some of it was due to him. He was doing what he could, but only by being strong for him would he truly help.

_**Xxxx : Note : Please forgive the mistake in timing; I wanted to do a little Harry-Petunia Scene without Dudley and the twins. : xxxX**_

They were finally out of WWW and were now on the way to look at one of Harry's other investments; Hernan's.

And, typical to the strangeness of the Wizarding world, Siecoe 'Path' was actually a sort of weird Italian-esque staircase/alley. Which is strange really, since the supposed Diagon 'alley' was actually a wide, clean street, in truth the width of a small motorway. So not really an alley. And Siecoe 'Path' isn't a path either. Someone just had a strange sense of humour while naming it. Ah well.

Anyway, back to the point, the entrance is near Ollivanders. It would have been helpful is Grillkrup had given specific direction. Harry, in his euphoria over his new-found independent situation, had forgot. And, as anyone who has been hunting for a second-rate caravan park in Cornwall will know, when you get within two miles of the end of your journey, and are simply told 'It's around here', you tend to panic and lose all sense of direction. Which kinda happened to Harry.

"Where is this street then, Harry?" asked Petunia. "I've never been there before."

"..." Harry oh-so-eloquently replied.

"So, you don't know then?" sighed Petunia.

"Not really," replied Harry, looking sheepish.

"Look, you're going about this the wrong way." Interrupted Dudley. "If that giant bloke hadn't been with you when you went to that dingy little pub place, the one where you get through to here, how would you have spotted it?"

"I dunno..."

"Simple. Look for something no-one else is looking at. Whatever they ignore, is your place."

Harry gaped at Dudley. "That is a brilliant piece of logic"

"I know," Dudley inflated with pride, and then rapidly deflated with a yelp when Harry poked him in the side then ran off giggling.

Dudley and Petunia looked at each other, identical expressions of resignment, and a tinge of humour. They then shrugged, in sync with each other once again.

"Stop it, stop it. Fred & George are twins. They're allowed to be on the same wavelength. But not you two as well!" Harry yelled, pulling his relatives away from each other in an attempt to break this slightly scary connection between those two. He then situated himself between them, trying in vain to be able to stop any of this, this weirdness.

Minutes later, Harry got prodded in the side by a fairly pudgy finger. "Ouch!" Harry glared at his cousin.

"Payback!" chirped Dudley cheerfully.

Harry walked off in a huff. Petunia and Dudley grinned at each other.

"Nooo! Stop it, it's not right!" Harry cried.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"Genius theory, Dudley," grumbled Harry after Dudley's logical streak proved a little less useful than hoped. After visiting three petshops, and accidentally breaking into a small empty shop with 'For sale' above the door.

"Look, we're here now aren't we? Whinging sod..." Dudley finished the statement under his breath. After all, Harry had bony fingers. He had to look after himself, didn't he?

The sight which greeted them, was...

quiet, Harry supposed...

It had a weird sort of emptiness which made it clear that there was plenty there, it was just hiding.

Xxxx : End of Chapter Five : xxxX

Xxxx : Beginning of Chapter Six : xxxX

"Well, shall we go to Hernan's then?"

At the nods Harry received from Dudley and Petunia, he took a step forward. And everything went strange. While looking at the shocked faces of his upside-down relatives, he burst into laughter.

Ten seconds later...

"Oh, I love this charm," He said through the occasional muffled giggle. He'd just about cleared up the laughter, and then took a step forward. Nothing happened, his relatives' faces were still upside-down to him.

"Bugger."

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"You now, I'm getting a sinking feeling the Wizarding world was meant for me." declared Dudley, and took a step. Everything turned normal. "You weren't upside-down Harry, we were. Sounds like whoever made this street was a..."

"Psychopath?"

"Exactly. Anyway, they'd probably done something to stop you realising who was upside-down.."

"Makes sense, a notice-me-not charm targeted to a fact though, rather than a tangible object, that's a genius bit of charmwork." Muttered Harry.

"Notice-me-not? Which creative genius came up with that name?" snorted Dudley, who obviously did not think that the particular charm met the usual wizarding criteria for naming, as in: weird.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry had taken three steps down the street, planning to find the shops fairly quickly, yet whoever designed the street were intent on making idiots out of it's less experienced or wary visitors. Harry fell for the oldest trick in the book – he fell down a manhole. And it took bloody ages to get out of, as well.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"Am I the only one who thinks that finding anything in this street is a real bugger?" said Dudley.

A slightly soggy (the manhole was filled with soapy water, for no reason at all) Harry turned and glared at him. "No, because in case you haven't noticed, we've both been here for the past hour as well, looking for the shop. Geez!" Petunia was looking a tad frazzled, and a bit stressed. Understandably, considering Harry and Dudley had been at this all afternoon. Harry had a short fuse, and Dudley, well, he was either a bit dim, or winding Harry up. Probably a bit of both, she mused. Something's got to rub off from Vernon, and anyway, for the past few years Dudley really didn't put in any effort. It was overall lucky he would be going to a magical school, as nobody would expect him to be at a certain level.

Harry's naturally short fuse was shrunk by the hot weather, and the tediousness of the task. And Holly Petunia Evans-Dursley decided something. She'd had enough.

She turned on her heel, planning on just shouting the boys, and letting them follow. She looked up, opening her mouth to call their names. And saw the one most ironically timed sight of her life;

Hernan's weaponry store. It was a small building, a tiny thatched cottage really.

"Harry, Dudley, shut the hell up and get over here." Their heads snapped up at the call, and both blushed at the admonishment. They followed Petunia into the shop, feeling decidedly sheepish. However, when they opened the door, all they saw through it was black. They froze, completely astonished.

"What the hell?" breathed Harry. He reached forward, and touched the inky blackness. He felt a strange prickling leading up his arm, and and experienced the sensation that he'd pushed into someone's memories, via a penseive. The sucking in feeling was the same.

He got a very strange feeling of being sucked for miles, and yet only travelling for a few seconds.

He landed on his feet, his relatives following closely behind.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

The sight that greeted the previous residents of number 4 Privet Drive, upon entering Harry's investment, was awesome. They looked around, seeing racks of guns, swords, a shield department, and various traditional and cultural weapons. A couple of people were breezing round the shop, or talking to staff assistants. The shop appeared to be endless, with stacked boxes above the displays reaching higher than the ceiling in the Hogwarts great hall.

"Can I help you?" asked a man with scruffy light-brown hair, a cigarette out of a corner of his mouth, and an arm in a sling.

Harry and his relatives span round. "Hi, I'm Harry Potter." Harry stopped here, not really knowing what to say after that. Luckily, the man was informed of the ownership change.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. I was informed you would be dropping around soon by the goblins in London. My name's Hernan, I'm currently the manager, and previous owner." He reached out to Harry with his good hand, which Harry accepted in a firm handshake. "Fancy a tour, boss?" Grinned Hernan. "That'd be great, thanks underling." They shared a smirk. Petunia and Dudley exchanged a look.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Hernan was like a kid in a candy store, dashing round with statements like, "Ah, this department was added a couple of years back," or "You'll love this, just imported from china, dates back to twelfth century,". By the end of the tour they had visited various weird departments, such as Asia, which had a huge stock of various weapons from the legendary warriors of oriental Asia, such as Samurai and Ninja. Weapons included ninja-to, Katanas, and even a set of claws built into a glove. Each weapon could be bought with additional charms layered upon it, but they were extra.

During the tour, Harry spied a price list for additional charms;

Unbreakable G:750

Unblemish G:45

SharpeningG:200

Recall G:750(Hernan explained that this allowed the owner to summon it without his wand.)

Invisible G:1250(On/Off function)

Magnetism G:3450(This meant to a small extent the sword would aid parrying)

Also, various spells could be imbued into the sword, allowing it to perform those spells built into it. A favourite was reducto, however an occasional smart customer would request accio, allowing a weak opponent to be summoned onto his sword. Gory, but very practical. A useful function, without doubt.

Another department was Modern, which had been divided into Melee, with commando knives and other small practical knives, Projectile, which was a huge section with a great range of assault rifles, pistols and sniper rifles amongst others, and the explosives section. Grenades and mines adorned the walls of this corner of the shop; flashbangs, smokes, and fragmentation all with their own shelf.

All in all, Hernan's weaponry store was an anarchist's wet dream. Enough weapons to declare war on a reasonably sized nation, and still come out on top, with excellent additional charms. For example, although there was no unlimited ammunition charm, there was a charm which allowed a single clip to be linked to your entire supply of ammo, meaning no reload down-time.

When the tour was complete, Harry asked to get a Katana, and a lot of charms imbued, including the entire price list, and the Incendio, Reducto and Accio charms.

He was taken behind the store, where there was a large group of master craftsmen, all building swords, a factory assembly line creating the guns, and a couple of offices for the charmsmen.

"Normally, a customer would take his weapon in there and the charmsman would enchant the sword, while also removing the anti-theft charm." Said Hernan, striding over to a cashdesk, and quickly keyed all the details of Harry's order into a small machine, and tapping his finger on a little button, get an order slip printed. "The anti-theft charm was created by me, and would remove access to the portal. Basically, somebody would try to use it but the portal will refuse to transport them."

"That reminds me; It's obvious we aren't in Siecoe Path any longer, but where are we now? That shop would never hold all this."

"This place is 2 miles under New York. No muggles are gonna accidentally stumble across this place, no way." Harry flicked an eyebrow up at the slightly strange man. "Okaaay..." Harry backed up a little.

"Why the hell two miles underground?"

Hernan shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry entered one of the charmsman offices. It was large, spacey and seemed like an apartment more than a place of work, and while there was a desk straight ahead from the door, and an anvil (which pulsed in sheer power; Harry made a note to ask about that) in the corner, doors led onto different rooms. It appeared the charmsmen lived in these rooms.

Harry rang a bell upon the desk, and immediately a voice sounded from behind him;

"Looking for me, Mr. Potter?" The reaction of shock and surprise the craftsman expected, failed to come to pass. Harry looked up, but little more. 'Excellent' he thought, Few customers were unfazed by his appearing trick. However, no emotion was shown on his face. The man refused to give away any information, despite it's irrelevance.

Harry turned around slowly. "Yes, actually," he drawled. "By the way, any relation to Ollivander? That was similar to his favourite party trick."

"He is my brother."

Harry looked at the man silently; he was undoubtedly Asian, probably Japanese. He looked ancient. "If that is true, why do you look nothing like him?" Harry asked.

"I look exactly like him, Mr. Potter. He is my twin." Harry raised an eyebrow, before an appreciative smile graced his face. "Glamours." he stated, smirking. The man looked upon him with smiling eyes. "Which of you are wearing a fake face, you, him or... both?"

The man let a faint smile grace his features, the first emotion to be shown yet in the conversation. "My, you are inquisitive. Try and guess, Mr. Potter."

'Definitely a Slytherin. In that case...'

"Both." Harry spoke. "I don't think your true age is as it appears. Nor Ollivander, because nobody so 'frail' would be able to sneak up on my so easily. That takes fleet of foot, and agility."

The man still refused to provide confirmation, but Harry knew he was correct. "Try to guess my true age, Mr. Potter."

Harry cocked an eyebrow, realising the man was testing him. "You know as well as me that that is a futile task. You provide neither correction nor answer, so I need not play along with your game. Now, tell me your name."

The man smirked. "You pass. You can call me Li-Fang, or just Fang, and my age is thirty-one."

"But that is not your true name."

"No, it is not." 'Damn, this kids quicker than any adult I've met' He thought, impressed. Even he wasn't that fast at that age, and he was a Slytherin.

Harry changed topic, noticing that the battle of wits had taken twenty-five minutes already. "I am here to have a sword charmed," and handed the order slip over to Li-Fang.

"Yes, I guessed that." said Li-Fang with that really annoying Mona-Lisa half smile on his face.

Harry rolled his eyes to the heavens and sighed, as if asking what he did to deserve this.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry was starting to like the man. He was a completely closed off git, very secretive, and strange. All that he had gleaned was that the man was a Slytherin in his time. Harry suspected that the faux-aged enchanter only let that slip, because he knew Harry had already figured it out. Nobody was that secretive outside of the snakes-house. However, Li-Fang never lied, said it was against his sense of honour. So long as Harry asked a direct question Li-Fang would not lie. However, Harry had to read into the words very carefully, for the older wizard enjoyed misleading Harry. He knew this was a battle of wits, but could not tell if this was for the charmsman's entertainment, practise, or if he was simply being tested. Harry's personal theory was that Fang was doing both.

Harry was surprised by the older man, as he managed to not slip in his battle for words with Harry while still enchanting the blade. Harry was enjoying the game in the same way one appreciates a game of chess against somebody offering a true challenge, attempting to see through all of his opponent's veiled words, and while he did not succeed completely, he thought he was improving all the while. Even if Fang did not realise, he was an excellent teacher.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

After a hour or so (Harry really hoped Hernan was looking after his relatives, otherwise they must be really bored by now), his sword was done. Before it's enchantments, it was a fine specimen of how a sword should look, but now... it was magnificent. Swirling colour, hues of gold, silver and just a hint of green in the blade, with a jet black handle. Li-Fang picked it up, and twirled it round a few times in an elaborate dance, threw it in the air, spinning it before catching it by the blade. He handed it hilt first to Harry. Harry took it, still looking impressed at the display of swordsmanship.

Li-Fang picked up a sheath that came with the sword (A craftsman delivered it, after Li-fang sent the slip through a fax to a different department) and buckled around Harry's torso, shoulder to waist, allowing him to draw it from behind his back.

Harry was about to leave, before a thought came upon him:

"How do I use this thing?"

Li-Fang started to chuckle. Then burst out laughing.

"I can teach you, if you want?" replied Li-Fang, once the laughter had subsided, although a silly grin was still upon his face.

"Thank god for that, for a second there I thought I would have to submit to marauder-style dueling; Act like a complete idiot, have them laugh at you so much that they can't concentrate, and then hit 'em with something hard." This philosophy was taught to Harry by Moony and Padfoot, who over the past year had some quite enlightening tips on dueling.

Fang sniggered, replying "I'll have to remember that one."

"Anyway, I'm moving to Bulgaria but I'm gonna ask for a entrance to this place in Thessaloniki, so once that's done, we can arrange my sword lessons?"

Upon Li-Fang's nod, Harry left the office/apartment with a cheerful farewell.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry was feeling quite cheerful he exited Siecoe Path with his relatives; He had a beautiful new sword (Currently invisible), Hernan had agreed to commission a new portal to be installed in Thessaloniki, and he was feeling smug anyway:

**Flashback**

_**Harry still had a grin on his face when he strode up to Hernan, who looked gobsmacked for some reason.**_

_**"What's with the fish impression?"**_

_**"Wha... no... Nobody comes out of Li-Fang's office without feeling at least a bit confused... the man even disorientates me." muttered Hernan.**_

_**"Guess I'm just special. Anyway, he's just playing word games with you, they aren't that hard. Right, I need a favour. Could you get a door sorted for Thessaloniki?"**_

_**"Yeah, sure..." Hernan was clearly still dazed.**_

**End flashback**

Harry really loved shocking people. He had that wicked streak that his father had, and Petunia and Dudley had the same thought going through their head – 'Durmstrang won't know what's hit it.'

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Albus Dumbledore was cursing his complacency. His pawn had been away from privet drive for hours, and he'd made it clear that Harry was to go nowhere. He snarled to himself 'Does that boy have to be so difficult? He has no right to go against me, obstinate brat.'

If Harry had owled him with a message explaining any reasons why he'd leave Privet Drive, he would have been placated, because then he would be proving he was still a nice, obedient pawn. But no, he had left, probably to prove he was his own person, to prove he had a life of his own. But dammit, that boy had a duty to him. "He belongs to me!" He yelled, confident in the knowledge there was nobody there to hear.

"If he continues to act like this, I will have to use the collar. He will be obedient, and do whatever I wish, even wishing nothing more than to please my every need. At least I will have the Potter brat, he cannot escape. Damn it all, I've worked so hard to make him my perfect little chess piece, and now he's trying to fight his way out. He has no right." He pulled a thin metal collar out of the desk drawer, from a small stack. It reeked of dark magic, and was his greatest creation. "I never told Nicolas the other use for dragons blood," He mused, smiling to himself.

Albus Dumbledore made a mistake. He thought he was alone.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Dobby was in the kitchens, and he was worried. He had been given the job in the kitchens, and thought that Master Dumbledore sir was a fantastic wizard, the second only to Harry Potter. "But how could mister Dumbly sound so bad, he isn't a nasty man like Voldie-mort." He murmured to himself. Winky had said that she heard him talking to himself, and he sounded so malicious.

At that moment Winky sped into the kitchens, yelling for him.

"Winky? What is it?" he squeaked.

"I heard mister Dumbly talking, and I think he was talking about Harry Potter. He said 'He belongs to me', but very loud. Later on he said 'At least I will have the Potter brat, He cannot escape.' We have to go warn him. He sounded so nasty and vicious." she squealed, sounding terrified that her master Dumbly could say something like that.

"I'll warn him. First, tell me everything you heard." And so Winky said everything, and Dobby sped off to find Harry.

Malfoy Manor

Draco Malfoy was in his bedroom, no doubt cooking up nefarious plans of doom and destruction for his nemesis Potter. The stereotypical evil bastard, obviously no deeper in character and personality than he was portrayed.

Except, he wasn't. Harry Potter was somebody who he deeply respected, and he never wanted to hurt him. After, he sent the warning to Potter through the elf, years ago. While Lucius and he knew the dangers possibly presented by the diary, they only went through with the plan because they needed their leader, only he had the power or the knowledge to defeat Dumbledore. They were shocked at the diary's solution as to how to live again, but they later realised that the memory of Riddle would have become tainted and insane after being trapped inside a book for half a century. Looking back, they realised that they never should have tried as they nearly cost the life of Ginevra Weasley, and it would have been for naught. Tom Riddle was different at sixteen, having little Dark Arts experience.

Looking back, Draco reflected, there was plenty of proof that nobody was perfect. The diary mistake was a disaster averted by Harry Potter, upon which they were greatly relieved. They did not want the blood of a innocent girl upon their hands, and Potter saved them from such a happening. For this alone, they were in his debt.

'I wonder if he knows how many life-debts are owed to him? Father and I owe him one for the life of another, a valuable power to have even despite it's weakness in comparison to a true life-debt. Ginevra Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Peter Pettigrew all owe him real life debts.' This, Draco knew, could be an important factor in the war. Draco resolved to tell him of them, if Harry ever jumped ships, and joined Voldemort.

Draco sighed. He wanted plenty of things, he wanted Harry on his side, he wanted the world to know what Dumbledore was, but mostly, he wanted his Dad back.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

_Secret location of pure and incomparable evil..._

The aforementioned 'Dark Lord' was feeling a little bored. He'd been feeling this way for a while, since all in all wizards really had very little to do in spare time. After all, what cunning and powerful general plays Gobstones? A shame that this image was needed really, he had quite a penchant for it in his youth. He was rather excellent at the game, if he said so himself.

However, there is always chess. But this was part of the reason he was bored. He loved the head to head battle of wits and tactics involved in chess, the setting of traps, and the satisfaction of taking a piece. However, the whole fun of this was stolen by that bloody pawn of Dumbledore's, that kid Potter. While he had little personal grudge against the boy, he was making things rather difficult. He also, more importantly, put his best opponent for chess in jail!

Nott knocked over his black king, in submission to Voldemort. They looked at the pieces taken: all black pieces except three pawns, while Voldemort had lost one pawn and a knight.

"Well done my lord, you are truly an unbeatable opponent..." said Nott, ingratiatingly.

Voldemort groaned in boredom and sent a wandless Reducto at the board.

The death eaters, while the smoke was clearing, heard the slam of a door and Voldemort stomping up the stairs.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

_Another secret location, not quite as evil or even incomparable_

"Damn it Bella, why don't you just fuck off! I can't stand this anymore..." The Lestranges were having a family argument. "It's ridiculous and over the top. We are fighting for good, not for the psychotic satisfaction of seeing them in pain."

"They deserve it!" She crowed, in her demented sing-song voice. "The Longbottoms fought against us, and what we gave them, they des-"

"No, Bella, no they didn't. You made us into criminals in an attempt to hurt the people who are fighting for what they think is good. We do the same as they did. Also, have you not thought of the ramifications of what you have done? Their son will never forgive us, and will be another pawn for Dumbledore. This is but one stupid example, and I can't help but wonder who you are fighting for."

Bellatrix slapped her husband, leaving a bright red mark on his face.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

_Same place as before, still not quite as evil as the 'Secret location of pure and incomparable evil...'_

A man with dyed silver dreadlocks, and a pale aristocratic face was walking past a door in the same house as the Lestranges, when he heard a slap from inside the bedroom of his hosts.

He opened the door, to the sight of both Lestranges pulling their wands on each other.

"Whoa, whoa, easy" he shouted, running between them and pushing down on their wands, stopping them aiming. "Jesus, you two still arguing?"

Both Rodolphus and Bellatrix glared at him. He rolled his eyes, and said "Why the hell don't you two get divorced? I just can't understand this, this is an arranged marriage, the people who made it died years ago, and the people who care probably won't even find out."

Bellatrix scowled, and pointed out "It's still a magical contract, and dad made it unbreakable, like he did with all contracts."

"You don't honestly think Dementius didn't leave a get out clause?" He chuckled. "He always got on alright with me, he told me how to break them."

Both Bellatrix and Rodolphus looked hopeful. "Really?"

Mentally rolling his eyes, he said "No, I'm a lying scum who led you on this far just for fun," with a slight smirk on his face.

"Wouldn't put it past you, git." Grumbled Rodolphus.

"Be nice, only I can break this." pointed out the houseguest. He then began the ritual to break a contract.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

_Small but fairly clean hotel, not even remotely evil, west London_

The receptionist at a small hotel known as The Hampstead, didn't even look up from her book when three figures approached. "Any rooms?"

"Yeah, loads. Tenner per night."

"Three of them then, next to each other if possible." Harry certainly wasn't sharing, he was paying after all.

It turned out that it was, and Harry handed over enough for a week, £210. "What's your names? I need them for the records."

"Just put us down as Evans."

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry put up a few wards he had seen in some books he read during his spare time, then collapsed onto his bed, exhausted from the day's events. His visit to Hernan's had taken several hours, as a tour round the shop consists of walking several miles. In short, he was knackered.

He hadn't planned to take up sword fighting, but it was an extra line of defence. He dreaded to think what would happen if he were to take on Mad-eye Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt or Dumbledore himself with his magic. He may have a great deal of power, but his experience was nothing compared to Dumbledore. He hoped to get some good tutoring, and with the sword fighting skills he planned to gain, could hopefully have an aspect to fighting that another wizard may not expect. He also planned to pick up a few guns on his next visit, but he was carrying too much already, with his Katana.

He ideally had wanted to be able to visit the Daily Prophet, and make some staff changes (Rita Skeeter sprang to mind), but Hernan's was a great deal bigger and more interesting than he expected. He simply didn't have the time to carry out any other plans, such as visit Daily Prophet and WWN to lay down some rules. He had several things to do before leaving for Bulgaria, but certainly needed to get to Bulgaria well before September 1st. After all, they needed to enrol, even if Harry was the owner.

The week would be a busy one.

Harry Potter lay back on his covers, without changing his clothing, and fell asleep.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Once again, Harry was planning on going shopping with his relatives in tow. This time however, they were heading into muggle London instead. He needed some good clothes, and frankly couldn't stand wearing robes. Although warm, they were uncomfortable, itchy and frankly pointless. 'Fact : Nobody can really do anything in robes.' Thought Harry. After all, some students from the muggle world kept tripping in the hallway, and was considered nothing peculiar. Obviously purebloods wore robes before and thus didn't mind. However, robes were muggle medieval clothing. Why did the wizards insist on being behind in everything? Muggles stopped wearing them for a reason, and by wearing them, the more idiotic wizards got noticed by muggles, that was proven at the Quidditch cup, where the muggles were repeatedly obliviated.

Harry mentally rolled his eyes. Wizards, frankly, got on his nerves. Big time.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"How about this one?" asked Petunia, holding up a pair of blue tracksuit trousers, with two stripes down the sides. Harry scowled and put them back on the rack. "Look, how about you and Dudley go to McDonalds or buy yourself some new clothes or something like that, and I'll wander round," he said, offering her a few fifty pound notes (Aunt Petunia has no job, therefore currently no money), but she refused the cash and said they would go for a walk. Harry rolled his eyes and turned around, instead handed the money to Dudley and walked away with a cheerful wave.

This was how he found himself in a much better shop than the last – Spaz's House, a clothes shop for alternative and gothic people. Harry smirked, spotting a bondage/sex slave section in the corner.

'I wonder how much Ron and Hermione would freak to see me in here' he thought, laughing at the idea of his normal, ordinary (as ordinary as wizards get, anyway) - and when he looked back on things - fairly dull ex-friends. He'd never really given it much thought before, but in truth, ordinary life with the Dursleys before this summer, was not much different than his life at Hogwarts or even the Burrow. All places and their residents strived to not stick out from the crowd, nobody was really extravagant or flamboyant (except FrednGeorge).

He needed people like that however, because otherwise his life was strangely dull, even with his annual adventures. He suspected that was why he always encouraged Fred and George, and funded their pranking efforts. Pranking was in his blood, and when Harry thought about the fact - despite how disappointed he had been by the Marauders' treatment of Snape in the pensieve – he wouldn't have it any other way.

This was why he knew he needed some better friends. The ones, while not trying to sound heartless, were, well, boring. Hermione constantly wore turtlenecks, despite an impressive figure, and Ron always wore scruffy dull clothes even though he knew FrednGeorge had offered him money for new ones, so long as he din't buy the same dull clothing style that he had worn for the past three years or so. He refused and threw a temper tantrum about the fact that his brothers were 'teasing' him about his clothing.

Simply put, Ron and Hermione were dull and strived for normality – Harry was better off without.

Especially considering he himself was unsure about his preferences, but had a sinking feeling that within a few months he would be playing for the home team, for want of a better figure of speech. He certainly appreciated the male figure more than the more feminine features of the more obvious possible girlfriends in his friends eyes – Ginny Weasley for example. With her and any other females, he could only give that opinion as platonic and critical; while he certainly knew she was beautiful, it conjured no fantasies – he didn't particularly want to see her in a stronger state of undress than when he has accidentally caught her with half her shirt off in the boys dorm one lunchtime with Dean, towards the end of last year. When she announced her relationship with Harry's dorm-mate, he was obviously unsurprised. However, he feigned a reaction, to avoid awkward questions from the other members of the 'Golden trio'.

Harry was woken from his musings with a light tap on his shoulder.

"Need a hand choosing? You've been looking at that rack for the past twenty minutes." an assistant with a pierced lip and pitch-black hair – dyed – asked. He turned to look at her, and she gasped. "Oh wow, you'll look so cool when I'm done with you, green eyes, pitch black hair – is that natural?" seeing his slightly bewildered nod, she continued "Pale, I really don't think anything bright would suit you..." she muttered to herself, getting a glassy eyed look as she browsed the shelves looking for something to suit the teen.

Eventually she ended up with a armful of shirts, a few in a shiny emerald green/black with wide long sleeves, but mostly black with red tribal symbols on the chest. Well, actually he ended up with armful, she dumped all suitable clothes on him. He also ended up with some leather trousers, and a few pairs of jeans.

"Right, try all those on." She ordered, and the bewildered Harry did so, stumbling to the changing rooms trying to balance all the clothes in fairly tall piles.

"Strange girl" he murmured.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry, an hour later, had made his way through all the clothes, and most fit. He bought them, and decided he wanted something else, it felt like something was missing. He'd already got changed into his new clothes, and the crazy-shopper-girl (whose name, it turned out was Erin) agreed he needed something else. After a moment of pondering, realisation dawned in her eyes. "I know!" she declared. She grabbed his hand, and shouted to someone else working in the shop that she was going on her lunch break.

"You're gonna drag me around, and not tell me what you're doing again, aren't you?" Harry sighed, resigned to his fate.

"Yep!" she said, almost bouncing with excitement.

"Christ girl, you're supposed to be goth! I thought you are all depressed and antisocial."

Erin laughed. "Evidently you don't know many of us. Anyway, you've gone goth now, so there!" she replied, sticking her tongue out at him, still – in Harry's opinion - irritatingly cheerful.

Her statement was true actually, Harry's clothes were now mostly black or at least dark. 'I am so gonna be thought of as a vamp now,' thought Harry. She'd even added in some eye-liner with all the buys as a freebie, because he bought so much. It took a lot of persuasion for him to wear it, but he grudgingly admitted it was pretty cool.

"What's your point? You're the one that's bouncing..." Harry retorted.

Her only response was to bounce faster, and laugh herself silly. 'Insane' thought Harry. They were starting to get funny looks by now, but that Harry didn't mind. He never was particularly self conscious, and he'd been getting admiring and obsessed looks all through Hogwarts. People looking at him askance was a preferable alternative.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Eventually, Erin calmed down enough to drag him by the hand round London for ten minutes, completely refusing to inform his where they were going. When they finally arrived at their destination, Harry looked at the sign and gasped.

Erin started to worry that he was a bit worried about the whole process, and began to babble "Now, it doesn't hurt much, and it'll look so cool. It'll look fabulous, and this is the best and safest of it's kind that I know of..." she cut off at the sight of his steadily growing grin.

"Perfect." he breathed, and walked into the body-art shop.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

When he came out, a few hours later (on his own, Erin had to leave to go back to work), he was sporting a lip ring, one earring (a silver skull), and a tongue ring. He also had a tattoo of a hoof print on his left arm and a lily on the other. The tattooist thought this a peculiar request, but Harry's simple explanation of "It's in memory of my parents," was enough to waylay any questions. The body-artist was sensible enough to not discuss sensitive topics, and the rest of the tattooing was spent in silence, or making light conversation.

It was getting late, and Harry decided to go back to the hotel, in case his relatives were worrying. As it were, they knew he could take care of himself.

However, that wasn't much comfort to Harry. It was ten o'clock, and Harry was panicking. He was being followed through London. He'd taken some strange detours to try to shake off his stalker, but nothing gave. Eventually, he broke into a run, sprinting from his pursuer. He didn't plan on using magic, as his pursuer was either muggle, meaning the law was broken, or wizard, meaning that at least one wizard would know of his emancipation. He expected it to be someone from either Voldemort or Dumbledore.

As his pursuer broke into a sprint, a hood which previously veiled his features, fell back. Revealing one Severus Snape.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry was losing his breath, but was smaller and pacier than Snape, he was gaining a lead in his pursuit around some of the shadier streets of London, and occasionally slowed the man down by throwing dustbins in his path. His escape, after about five minutes of flat out sprinting, came when a group of drunks coming from a pub a few houses down stumbled into Snape.

"Damn it, you inebriated filth, get out of my way," he snarled throwing one of them out of his way. One drunk wasn't backing down, and punched Snape in the gut.

Thirty seconds later, every drunk was on the floor clutching their heads in pain. Snape's wand never left his pocket during this exchange, and he spat on them.

"Pathetic. I need a real challenge," sneered Snape. However, caught up in the fight, he had forgotten about his quarry, and when he span around, scanning the long street for the diminutive figure, he was nowhere to be seen.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Unknown to him, Harry Potter had not fled. Instead, too tired to make a true escape, he quickly applied a glamour to very subtly change his features and hide the scar, ran into the pub, and asked for the police to be contacted, citing an a man pursuing him and then assaulting a group of men as the reason. He was astonished by Snape's street fighting skills; he had expected the man to be reliant on his wand, like most wizards. However, he came to realise Snape was a potions master, and thus saw little use for his wand. Most likely, being a Slytherin, he believed that muggle fighting skills were a wise choice. At that moment, Harry decided to find a highly recommended sensei, and learn martial arts. As it were, wand or no, he knew Snape would have beaten him even if he drew his wand on his ex-professor.

When the police came to apprehend Snape, he was nowhere to be found. Harry said he'd be in the Hampstead, left his name (fake: Gareth Evans), his mobile phone number (His aunt bought it for him while he was in hospital as a get well gift), and said he was staying with his brother Rob (Dudley's middle name) and mother Holly. He said he would provide a description for the police artist, but offered to draw a picture overnight from memory.

Harry had discovered quite a talent with art when, bored out of his skull in a hospital ward, he tried to draw. His first few attempts were a bit scratchy, but got into the swing of things before long. He did art at primary school, and won a prize for it at one point. It was only a Mars Bar, but it was far more to him. It was the first sweet he could remember eating, and the first victory he had made. It was a minor milestone, and one of Harry's few good memories from muggle education. Dudley was ill that day, and thus the Dursleys never found out.

The police, once all business was dealt with for the day, offered him a lift home. Exhausted physically and emotionally, he accepted. Nobody but Severus Snape himself knew that the spy/teacher was still hiding underneath an invisibility cloak. He wanted to sneak in, but knew that was impossible, as the door was locked for privacy. He couldn't alohomora it, because then the police would arrest him.

However, when Harry left the pub, he planned to wait until the police left him and then grab the boy. If he was not a wizard, perhaps he would have realised that the police would never leave a teen alone at quarter to eleven to walk back to the hotel. However, he did not. When the police car with Harry in sped off, Snape cursed his own foolishness, and considered chasing the machine. But it was already gone.


	4. Limbo, Note, for lack of a better term

_**Hey again! So, I've talking with my lovely friend Woodland Goddess, who by the way, is an amazing Conversationalist, about Abandoned Stories. I'm completely put out. I think I've made it known that I HATE it when people start stories, only to stop half through, or at the beginning.**_

_**I know, I know. I'm just really busy with college, so some/most of my stories won't be updated very often unless I've got breaks. It just so happens, Winter break for my college isn't over yet! :D So I'm mass-updating whenever I can. Oh, and I'm looking for a Beta. Anyone know how to find one? :D Please do alert me on this! :D Thanks, and enjoy!**_

Xxxx : Beginning of Chapter 8 : xxxX

Harry woke with a weight upon his stomach.

"Urggh... Dobby? What're you doing here?" he mumbled, without opening his eyes.

His first answer was a lick in the face. The second was Dudley saying "Who's Dobby?"

Once Harry was fully conscious, he realised two things. One, it was his birthday. Two, he now had a very small but cute puppy spaniel called Alexander. However, neither of these was going to stop Harry from going back to sleep. He had a late night, for gods sake.

"Whoa, no. You, young man, are going to explain why on earth you arrived back here in a police car, completely unconscious. And then, you are going to show us everything you got from downtown."

"Why did I arrive unconscious in a police car? I fell asleep on the ride home. As to your other request, bugger off, I'm tired." he replied, and fell back to sleep. He was successful in a sense, as he managed to sleep for another sixteen minutes and forty-two seconds, in which time Dudley managed to find a small bucket, fill it with ice cold water and upend it on him.

Petunia burst into a hysterical fit of laughter, joined quickly by Dudley. She managed to gasp out "Revenge! Remember in the bank when you woke me up by spelling a load of ice water on me? Well, now you know what it's like."

Just to add another grievance to Harry's already rather long list, A small green something suddenly appeared on Harry's stomach.. Just heavy enough to knock the wind out of his lungs.

'Bloody hell,' thought Harry. "Some sodding birthday this is," he grumbled, smiling to himself.

"Harry Potter sir! Dobby needs to tell... Mr Harry Potter sir?"

"Yes Dobby?"

"Why are you all wet?"

Xxxx : Line break : xxxX

As it turned out, Dobby was delivering information of Dumbledore, which truly didn't surprise Harry. However, there were various little nuggets of info, that surprised Harry. For example, he definitely wanted to get more information on this 'Collar'. It sounded like a cursed item that probably created an Imperius curse or some other similar suggestion curse. One thing which seemed certain, was that it certainly wasn't legal. Yet another crime to add to the sheet.

He wrote down all the information in a small notebook that he was using as a convenient way to keep things in perspective. Using a little charm, he copied the information and sent it to Grillkrup, who after all was his legal advisor.

Then he picked up his sketchbook. He had done a couple of pictures of Snape a while ago, and digging out the best, got dressed. The police arrived shortly afterwards, and he gave them the picture.

"Not bad, not bad at all... Well, if you're sure that this is a good likeness of him, then we can try to apprehend the man."

Harry made eye contact with his aunt and nodded very slightly.

"Wait a second... that looks like Severus Snape," Cut in Petunia, "I knew him a few years ago."

"Are you totally sure?" asked the officer.

"Yes, he's definitely a recognizable face," she replied. Harry smirked inwardly. Perfect.

Xxxx : Line break : xxxX

"So," Declared Harry's aunt, as soon as the police officer had left, "Now you are going to tell us what that was all about, and show us what you bought."

Harry sighed in resignment, and proceeded to explain the developments. It took a quarter of an hour, and throughout the monologue, his relatives grew paler and paler.

"They know we are in London now?" Asked Dudley.

"Not quite. The story I gave to the police was slightly different to what the Headmaster will be expecting. Firstly, we are Welsh – Don't worry, anybody who begins to wonder suddenly 'realises' that our accent is Welsh, it's a very useful spell – your name is Rob, mine is Gareth, we are brothers, and your name" he said, now indicating petunia, "is Holly. According to the story, you are also my mother. I thought by using your middle name, Dudley, a name similar to mine and your real name, Aunt Petunia, we could keep up the façade easier. In public, it's important to refer to ourselves as our fake names. Also, whenever we leave I will apply the glamour charms to make us look only slightly different. After all, if my hair changed to blonde, they'd know something was up. Snape was certainly chasing a boy with dark hair."

Holly smiled, and drew the teens into a hug. "Even if it's not real, it'll be nice to hear you call me mum, Harry," she offered with a slightly shaky smile.

"It'll be nice to use the word, Lord knows it's something I've always wanted to have the chance to call someone."

Holly wiped a small amount of water from her eyes, and changed the topic. "Right, well you've got some shopping to show us, don't you." Harry groaned. "Tell me about it, I got cornered by a rabid shop assistant in a shop called Spaz's House. Sells alternative clothing-"

"Explains why you came in with eye-liner on last night, if you've been visiting goth and punk shops, Ha- Gary," sniggered Dudley. Harry blushed a bit, and mock-glared.

"Not my choice, that was Erin's."

Holly arched an eyebrow. "Erin? Is she your girlfriend?" she teased. He held his head in his hands.

"NO! She is the rabid shop assistant that I spoke of a second ago."

"First name terms already Mr. Potter? You're quick off the mark..." smirked Dudley.

"Gods almighty. What did I do to deserve this?" he asked, raising his eyes to the heavens.

"You went shopping and got cornered by your new girlfriend, etc etc." snickered Dudley, he loved teasing Harry.

"Gah! It's was rhetorical." he replied, scowling. Holly and her son exchanged a victorious grin, while Harry's glare intensified as he caught on. "HEY! She is not my girlfriend," he grumbled.

"Not the sharpest tool in the drawer, are you Harold?" sympathised Holly in a sickly sweet tone, patting Harry's shoulder and grinning.

Harry's glare faded into a pout. "Stop bullying me," he sulked, and stuck out his bottom lip as far as it could go. "It's supposed to be my birthday, my sixteenth. No fair bullying me on my birthday." Harry's pout turned into a feral grin, making his relatives pale slightly. "After all, my revenge is much more impressive." He got up, picking up his dog and scratching his ears. The dog licked at his fingers and wagged it's tiny little string of a tail, making Harry smile softly. He'd never really experienced the simpler delights in life, like having a pet or a mother's hug. Petunia saw this and smiled. Even if it was all they could get him, both she and Dudley knew this was the greatest gift they could possibly give.

"GIT!" yelled Dudley suddenly, glaring. He'd caught sight of himself in a window's reflection, which showed his face, but with blue hair.

"But Duddikins dearest, it looks so nice," said Harry, "Although you should calm down. Red doesn't go well with you new hair style for the week."

If possible, Dudley's glare intensified, and his face turned an even darker shade of crimson, before losing all colour. "The whole week?" he stuttered.

"Yep!" declared Harry. "Except when you are outside of course, but every time when we get back here, I'll return it to blue."

Petunia laughed at the look on her son's face, or at least tried to. No sound came out, however.

"And now, Auntie dearest, you find my punishment for you. You won't be able to talk for the next hour or so." Harry grinned once more, and turned to leave the room with complete silence. Dudley was dumbstruck, and Petunia's yells were in vain.

In the doorway, he turned around with his puppy in his arms, and gave an evil laugh.

Dudley regained his bearings. "You aren't out of this yet, Harry." he grinned, shaking his head.

Xxxx : Line break : xxxX

They stayed in the hotel that day, Harry showing Dudley a few useful beginner charms, allowing him to use his wand. The reaction to Dudley was better than he expected, and Dudley was nearly at the level he would reach with his own wand. It certainly appeared that Dudley's wand would be similar to his own. He wondered if this would happen to all relatives. After all, Ron's always functioned passably during first year, despite being Charlie's old wand.

A few days passed, without incident. Harry enjoyed life as an ordinary boy for once, although was occasionally spotted by an avid newspaper reader, who recognized him as the boy involved in the Snape case of assault;

The Times had a rather excellent article on it, page four;

_**Mass assault committed in London**_

_**A man is wanted for questioning in connection with an assault that happened on the thirtieth of July. A sixteen year old welsh boy known as Gareth Evans gave this story to the police:**_

_**"I'd just been shopping around the city, finding some new clothes. I'd just finished and was heading back to the hotel where me and my family are staying, when I saw someone in very dark clothing following me. I shrugged it off, presuming it as coincidence; perhaps he was heading to the same area as me. However, just in case, I decided to circle round the block a couple of times hoping to shake him off. To my dismay, I found the man still following me, so I started to run. He began to run as well, and it broke into a full blown chase around London. I've long considered myself a fit person, and do some long distance running for fun. However, the man still managed to gain on me. That's when I, in truth, got lucky. When a group of... slightly merry locals came out of a pub, they stumbled straight into the man. He seemed furious, certainly quick tempered. He proceeded to, for want of a better term, beat the brains out of the lot of them bare handed. I ran into the bar they had just vacated, and yelled for somebody. In the end, you" - the police - "were called."**_

_**The man is described as about six foot tall, and was wearing peculiar black clothes, resembling a robe of some sort. The picture below is drawn by the boy himself from memory, to save police time in drawing a portrait of the man. He has been identified as Severus Snape.**_

_**Anyone with information on the incident, please contact Crimestoppers.**_

Harry was proud of getting the newspapers involved. At very least, Dumbledore was going to give Snape a hard time, for becoming a muggle fugitive. Harry wished he could rub it in that Snape was now in exactly the same position that Sirius was, except that he committed his crime, instead of being framed.

Xxxx : Line break : xxxX

Harry lay back on his bed at the hotel, on the third of August, feeling content with the world. It was the first time he had truly been content in his life, because before Hogwarts he was never allowed creature comforts, and during it, life was stressful, with quidditch, homework, deranged Dark Lords, politics, to name but a few of the tasks and obstructions between him and happiness.

Finally he could feel normal. He'd addressed Aunt Petunia as mum during the trips, as they'd agreed. He forced all thoughts of the truth out of his head for a moment, and it felt wonderful. For those split seconds, he convinced himself he had a mother. He'd never realised that it was such a wonderful feeling.

Xxxx : Line break : xxxX

On candystripe legs, the spiderman comes

A man, clad all in black strode silently past the hotel doors of the boy's relatives. His steps were long and precise, the footsteps of a man who knew exactly what he was doing.

_Softly through the shadow of the evening sun._

He occasionally looked outside, seeing nobody, but checking all the time. This was mostly procedure; he was a talented spy.

_stealing past the windows of the blissfully dead_

Every time he stepped past a window, his face was illuminated in the moonlight, revealing him as Severus Snape.

_looking for the victim, shivering in bed_

Nothing was in his way, between him and his target. He had been ordered to collect the boy, by any means necessary.

Severus Snape grinned as he inched closer to the boy he knew was Potter, despite the Welsh alias he used. The boy slept quietly, seemingly happy enough in his dreams. Severus fingered a portkey in his pocket and reached out for the boys wrist. All he had to do was grab the boy and port him back to Grimmauld Place.

His arm inched towards Harry, and grasped his wrist. Speaking the activation word, he smirked in triumph, as the portkey sent them to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

Xxxx : Line Break, Order of the Phoenix Head Quarters : xxxX

Harry blinked awake.

'What the fuck? Where... Oh hell no!'

And thus, Harry realised exactly where he was. And, more importantly, who wanted him here.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry was thinking fast, about how to get out of there before the shit hit the fan, so to speak. However, just like this morning, he was caught unawares. He hadn't even managed to get any shred of reasonable plan off the ground before Dumbledore, with Snape, McGonagall, Ron and Hermione entered the room.

"Harry..." He started, in a petulant voice. "I've told you many times, you cannot leave you relative's house. You will be endangered."

Harry stood up, brushed himself off, and, strode up to the man. "By who?" he whispered in Dumbledore's ear. Raising his voice, he spoke clearly; "The gig's up Dumbledore. You and I both know that Voldemort is not the real enemy, is he?"

"I..I-I don't understand what you are talking of, dear boy," replied the headmaster of Hogwarts, stuttering only slightly, as if truly shocked. Harry had to hand it to him, he was a fine actor. He even complimented the bearded old man on the skill.

A flash of anger crossed his brow, before settling into his normal highly occluded state. Hermione was not so calm, however. She strode straight up to him, and slapped him hard in the face. "What right do you have to treat Headmaster Dumbledore with such disrespect?" she sneered.

Harry reeled back a little, but recovered quickly. "I think... I have as much right as I want. And before I forget, I let you off with that one. You try it again, well, lord knows, I do things a little, rash, shall we say, in the heat of the moment. We wouldn't want something painful to happen to you, now would we?" he answered, whispering the two words. Hermione, already walking back to where she stood next to Ron, who glared at Harry, looking down his nose at him, visibly shivering. Dumbledore's face showed his anger, and he whispered something into Snape's ear, whose face was unreadable.

Snape was beginning to step forward when Ron charged at Harry, swinging a fist. Luckily, the Claro Calx was still on his person, and thus he was able to see the punch coming, and, bending backwards to avoid it, reach up and grab Ron's arm. He then twisted it, and kicked Ron in the space where all dirty fighters aim for. All males in the room cringed, except Harry who let loose a feral grin.

"Try it again, Ron. I _dare_ you!" Harry hissed, slipping into a crouching position. His sword glittering in his hand, drawn so the sharpest edge was shown to the group, though the sword as a whole was invisible.

'_Something's happened to this brat,' _Snape thought silently, taking a hesitant step backwards.

All in all, Harry had incapacitated Ron with one hand and one foot, and dodged a punch with ease. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hermione looked furious, while Snape looked mildly impressed judging by his facial expressions. However, something else burned within those eyes of his.

"Lets not forget, Mr. Potter, Ronald is hardly an able opponent. His height makes him unbalanced, and he is also, frankly, a moron." Harry nodded; he agreed with the man for once.

"Severus," Snapped Dumbledore. "Just get on with it, and stop insulting Mr. Weasley."

"No, no," interrupted Harry. "How could you try to stop this when we have finally found some common ground?" Snape's lips twitched, but he stepped forwards at the headmaster's reiteration of the command.

"So, Mr. Potter. Up for a fight?" smirked Snape. "I don't go easy on my opponents, though."

"I wouldn't expect any different," remarked Harry, looking surprisingly collected and calm. Inside, however, he was shaking like a leaf. _'He's gonna maul me!'_

Harry tried to concentrate, to focus and hopefully predict Snape's attacks, as his sword vanished from the air to shrink and find its way into his pocket.]. Seeing no immediate movement, he took a swing. Which was one of the most painful mistakes he ever made. He didn't have a clue how it happened, but he found himself on the floor with a very painful ache in his ribs, and a foot on his back.

Snape had however underestimated Harry. Harry had an ace up his sleeve, and called out mentally and magically.

_**I NEED MY SWORD!**_

It appeared in his hand, still invisible due to it's charms. Thrusting it awkwardly upwards, he felt it connect with Snape's shoulder; and Snape sure felt it, too. Yelping in pain, Snape jumped backwards away from Harry, who called back his sword, jumped up, and before anyone reacted, threw a _Reducto_ at the ceiling. Everyone was covered in masonry, and when the dust cleared, Harry Potter was nowhere to be seen.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"Aunt Petunia, get Dudley and meet me at the Cauldron. We've gotta go, and fast." Harry said, into his mobile once he was a safe distance from Grimmauld Place. He snapped the phone closed, and jogged the rest of the way to the dingy old pub. When he arrived around twenty minutes later, he found Petunia and Dudley waiting for him just inside the door, with Alexander on a short lead next to them. Who promptly fell over, trying to scrabble across the wood flooring to go see Harry and possibly inspect his shoes

"Harry, whe-"

"Not yet, Aunt Petunia. I'll tell you when we aren't in such a hurry." Interrupted Harry, who then left through the back door, towards the Cauldron, followed by his relatives.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Luckily, they weren't recognized despite a few funny looks – Most wizards didn't own a dog. However, they made it to Gringotts with relative ease – 'Finally, something going right,' thought Harry in relief – and got to the front desk.

"Can I help you?" the bored looking goblin asked, looking as if he really hoped the answer was no.

"Yes, I need to speak with Grillkrup."

"No, I am afraid he is busy right now." replied the Goblin, without even checking.

"Like shit you know that. There's thousands of you in here. Now tell him I need to speak with him. Even if he was busy, tell him I need him anyway."

The goblin rolled his eyes, then smirked as if hit with an idea.

"I can't help you, I'm going on my break," he said, and pressed a button which began to raise a wall between the teller and Harry.

Harry didn't hear the declaration of "I'll talk to your manager!" from Petunia, nor the snort of disgust from Dudley. Too much had happened today, and he wasn't going to take anymore.

Harry was only partially aware of his own actions, and really wasn't quite sure what he was actually going to do to the goblin, but punched at the rapidly rising wall, forcing all his anger into that punch.

Quite a few things happened after that. For one, there was a minor explosion at the point of impact. Then the entire booth fell over, narrowly missing the goblin who had hopped back out of harms way.

"I- I'll g-get him now, s-s-sir" the now terrified goblin squeaked.

"Honestly, good service is so hard to find..." said aunt Petunia, not realising that her nephew was looking at his hand, absolutely gobsmacked.

'_What the hell just happened...'_

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Grillkrup shook his head in bemusement, while stroking his forehead as if developing a massive headache.. "Harry, I know you don't do things the normal way, but now you are breaking a Rule of Magic-"

Dudley interrupted. "What do you mean?"

"It's like rules of physics, only nobody yet knows why they are always true. Anyway, one of these rules is, and I quote from a derivative of one of Merlin's books of magical research, 'Once a Wizard has bonded with his focus, their innate magic is rearranged. This is often painful, and also pleasurable at the same time according to the accounts of others. However, I had merely a slightly warm sensation, and a feeling of rightness, which is a feeling probably existing in the usual bonding, but the pain and pleasure override it. It appears my bonding to my focus was unique.'

The bonding process stops outbursts of Wild Magic, as the wizard's magic is not randomly scattered around the person, but ordered and usable. Wild magic is pure energy, that is focused only by the intent of the caster, rather than the binding and directing nature of the incantations and wand movements. It makes it a tad... unpredictable.

"Merlin, in his treatises on the nature of magic, noted that he found himself the exception to his own rule. He occasionally let out small bursts of magic when he was irritated, and was noted for his emotional turnaround. He invented occlumency as a method of blocking any rash emotions, mostly so he could channel raw magic and develop wandless magic. Merlin always was a scholar. However, when he died his final treatise was incomplete, the one where he tried to channel it properly, and occlumency was abandoned as only he even needed it. No other wizard was strong enough to have emotional wild-magic outbursts. Many years later, when legilimency was invented by a minor Dark Lord, a student of Merlin's treatises suggested it as a way to defend against mental attacks, and thus Occlumency is considered a way to defend the mind, rather than control it."

He then asked the one question he needed answering.

"Does your bonding match Merlin's, Harry?"

Harry, who was still looking a little lost, and like the small child he never really ever was, replied in a small voice, "Yes."

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Grillkrup did a little more organizing before Harry's business was finished; it seemed rearranging little things on his desk was his way of coping with minor stress. It says a lot about the situation then, that the desk was in a different place by the end of it, the walls had been repainted and the entire place had been thoroughly cleaned.

'Somebody needs to find him a new way to deal with stress. This is a bit worrying,' thought Harry, despite being impressed at Grillkrup's ability to redecorate, handle business, and look nonchalant all at the same time. He didn't even leave his chair.

But this is irrelevant. Anyway, Grillkrup had arranged for a worker to travel to the hotel and pick up their belongings. Since Harry, Dudley, and Petunia needed to be somewhere safe, they asked grillkrup to prepare transport to Bulgaria. They needed to settle in before the start of term, anyway.

They were starting to discover, also, that the Durmstrang Institute of Magic was not similar to Hogwarts at all. Firstly, to graduate, one had to progress through grade bands to complete a course. Once a course was complete, that subject was taken off their timetable, and the student has a free period, to be filled with another subject of the student's choice. Viktor Krum, rather notably, passed beginners broomflight in three minutes, selected advanced broomflight as an elective to replace it, and passed that one week later, thirteen minutes into the first lesson. According to Grillkrup, this was the current record, however both subjects were single grade bands whereas many subjects had up to five bands.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"Wow, this continental food is awesome!" declared Dudley, after taking a bite of his spicy lunch.

Aunt Petunia rolled her eyes, and Harry said, scowling, "Dudley... you do know that's just curry. It's Indian. You had it at home all the time. I should know."

Dudley flicked up a questioning eyebrow.

"I cooked it, remember?"

"Didn't taste as good as this," mumbled Dudley through a mouthful of rice.

Harry snarled at him and stormed out of the room.

Petunia sat down on the bed and massaged her forehead. Tensions were running high, and Harry was snapping at all sorts of things which Dudley was too clueless to realise he was saying. She would have followed him, but he needed time on his own.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Andre Ivanovich was a quiet person. He always was, and thus he could be found wandering the streets of... wherever he ended up. Currently, this was Thessaloniki, Greece. During the school, year, he lived in Bulgaria, on campus. In previous summers, he lived in England with his Aunt Lilian. However, his tyatya (his endearing title for his Aunt) earned a good living, and thus was easily able to fund the purchase of a picturesque apartment, near the magical area of Thessaloniki.

He currently was wandering, loosely with the purpose of grocery shopping, but often trips such as these would take him an hour or more, simply because he was curious by nature. He explored every nook and cranny of the city, knowing all the shortcuts in a week flat. His aunt often joked he knew the cities better than any taxi driver. Then again, she never much liked taxis.

Andre's wandering had taken him to a fairly nice hotel, not too far from his apartment. He had done all his shopping, which he bitterly regretted a few seconds later when a furious figure stamped out of the door of the hotel, and smashed straight into him.

"Oh god, I'm sorry," said the black haired figure, whom lost most of the furious expression, to be replaced by one of mortification. Andre could make out tear tracks down his face, but did not mention them.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry stomped out of the hotel, still furious about Dudley; so furious that he didn't even notice the tears flow. However, as he pushed through the doors,

SLAM!

He walked straight into a kid about his age with shoulder length chocolate-brown hair, carrying a couple of bags.

"Oh god, I'm sorry," he yelped, without thinking. And then nearly slapped himself. 'You're in Greece, you moron,' he thought, his worries seemingly confirmed by the strange look he was getting. He tried to think of a Greek phrase that he actually knew but his efforts were unsuccessful. However, his fears were ungrounded anyway, as the teen spoke English, with a faint Russian accent.

"Don't worry about it," the boy murmured, "But could you help me pick this up?" he continued silkily.

Harry shook himself from his stupor, and nodded. Once it was all picked up, the other teen extended his hand to Harry, saying "Andre Ivanovich. I go to Durmstrang. Are you starting this year?"

Harry blinked, slightly stunned. Remembering to take the stranger's hand before long, he replied "I'm Harry. How did you know I was a wizard? And yes, I am."

"A few reasons. One, you are very near to the wizarding complex, two, I can-" he said, before stopping himself. "Sorry, forget I said anything. Anyway, it wouldn't matter if you weren't, most of the eastern countries know all about the wizarding world, they just don't tell Britain or America. Otherwise, we'd be surrounded by celebrities after cheap facelifts. Over here, and also in Switzerland, some muggles know of us, not all, but if a patient has cancer, that is incurable to a muggle, we will try and help. We like to help the muggles, and they have agreed not to exploit our services."

"That makes much more sense than Britain," replied Harry.

"I know," smiled Andre, "I lived there."

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

It was strange, mused Hary that already, after only a couple of hours, Andre and he were already fast friends. He was a little cautious at first when the boy asked him to his apartment, but he figured that he was safe in Greece, and that Andre was sincere. Besides, he had nothing better to do.

"So, what's your favourite type of music?" asked Andre, returning from the kitchen area with a mug of coffee each. The conversation was like this, entirely light-hearted. Andre had asked no questions about why he was crying, and Harry didn't ask what Andre was going to say earlier, when he was talking about how he knew Harry was a wizard. They would get to that conversation later, but for now, they were simply building their budding friendship.

"I dunno, I suppose I got into load of rock stuff over the past few weeks, and I know I can't stomach pop, rap and dance. Classical's pretty decent, despite my limited experience. How's about you?"

"Rock, mostly. I'm like you, I just can't stand most modern music except for metal, punk, and things like that. I used to live in the north of England, there was a really good festival near Leeds, I've been to that a few times. Never stayed the full weekend though."

"Festivals last a whole weekend?" Harry asked. "That's awesome!"

"A lot of them do. There's a few good fests in England, and another in Germany. Nothing else is really worth it unless you can get over to the US for Warped."

"I'm gonna have to go to one of them soon. Maybe stay for the full weekend..."

"Take a load of food," Andre advised. "Otherwise you'll be totally ripped off." He then started on another topic.

"So," Andre started. "What lessons are you looking forward to?"

"Defence probably, and maybe potions. My old teacher despised me, and let my schoolboy rivals sabotage my potions. Biased as hell. I'm glad I'm out of that school, now. The teachers were awful. Potions, as I said, had a spiteful teacher. The percentage of students who pass History at Owl & Newt level, is, well let's just say a single digit figure for both levels. Also, the Care of Magical Creatures teacher didn't complete one year of a five year course, in his own subject. Not his fault, but it still means he hasn't got a clue what he's doing."

"You won't get that at Durmstrang. All the teachers are monitored, retrained, the lot. That way, if any of them are incompetent, mistreating students, or misbehaving in any other way then they are thrown straight out."

"That sounds great!"

"Yeah, although not for the teachers. In fact, the Care of Magical Creatures got thrown out towards the end of last year. He'd been dealing with the illegal creature traders." His eyes darkened towards the end of this statement. Harry, wisely, didn't mention this or his change in tone.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry had never drunk before, but he was starting to be a little more adventurous around his new friend, more so than ever with Ron and Hermione. It was just as he thought; those two strove for normality. Harry was not normal and was proud of it. Thus, he was doing what he wanted, instead of what others wanted. Andre, it seemed, was fine with this.

"Hey man, I don't care what you do, so long as it don't hurt others." His words were a little slurred due to the bottle of vodka each they'd just downed. "Get pissssed, that'ss fine, that'ss funnnn" thunk!

Andre had passed out. Harry, is his wonderful world of drunken inanity, decided to once again wake somebody up via cold water.

"AARRRGGGGHHH!"

_'Evidently, Andre doesn't appreciate being wet, pissed, and tired,'_ mused Harry. He also had a rather impressive bruise on his forehead from hitting the table, which Harry healed quickly.

"I'll get you!" he grumbled, before grabbing a pillow, and starting a pillow fight.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Seven O'Clock, the next morning, and Harry had a massive headache. His chest also felt a little strange. His head flopped over, and he saw an empty vodka bottle. 'That explains the headache,' thought Harry idly. Then he fell back to sleep.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Beep-Beep! Groaning, and not even opening his eyes, Harry took his phone from his pocket. "What!"

"Harry! Where are you?" asked his aunt.

Harry's eyes snapped open, "I dunno... Oh wait..." As his memories came back, so did his hangover. "A friend's," he replied. "Don't worry, I'm alright."

He snapped the phone shut, moaning in pain and rubbing his forehead.

"Whozat?" mumbled Andre sleepily. He opened his eyes, "Oh, hey Harry."

"Morning. Got anything for hangovers?"

As Andre stumbled through to the kitchen on a potion hunt, Harry looked round the apartment. A photo here and there, mostly of a particular woman, who bore a faint resemblance to his new friend. He knew this to be his Aunt, who he considered his mother. When explaining why, last night, he got no further than saying his parents weren't dead, before clamming up. Harry didn't push the subject. However, his curiousity was eating at him a little, _'He'll tell you when he knows you better,'_ Harry admonished himself.

In an attempt to curb his curiousity, he wandered around the apartment, finally noticing a beautiful box, made from carved mahogany, and about fifteen centimetres each side, but only three up. Harry ran a finger along the embellished contours, gazing at the mark made on the varnished wood, before rubbing it off with his sleeve.

"Hey!" Snapped Andre, "Stay away from that!"

"Sorry, but you didn't tell me you didn't want me touching that," replied Harry, a little snappish himself. The hangover was still there.

Andre tossed him a potion, and after downing it in one go, spoke again; "Sorry, that was the hangover snapping at you. It's just that the box is absolutely beautiful."

Andre's glare slipped off his face, and he bit his lip for a few seconds while gazing at the box, before he spoke up again. "I know," he whispered.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"You know," said Harry, "That was a fantastic pillow-fight last night. But what I really wanna know is where did we get -" Harry got up, rummaged around on the carpet through all the cushions.

Andre looked at his feet – his only body part still visible under the huge amount of pillows – with amusement, and sipped his coffee. Three minutes later, Harry came up for air, declaring "Three hundred & forty two, without counting the mangled ones."

"And the point of counting them was – what?" asked Andre, his eyes still full of suppressed mirth.

"Dunno, just wanted to know why you had enough pillows to fill every dorm in Hogwarts."

"We used a multiplier charm, remember?" Andre replied, straining his brain. He was sure there was something strange about the multiplier charm, he just couldn't place it. He tried to push it to the back of his brain, but it still niggled.

"Oh yeah. Wait, why did we put Sustanis Magicka charms on them? They wouldn't need to last longer than a few minutes, because it's just a pillow fight."

"We didn't..."

"What the hell?" Both stared at the cushions, in slight horror and total confusion.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"Okay, so we've established that we did not cast a Power Sustaining charm, nor did we keep recasting them during our sleep,"

Harry butted in, "After all, that would be crazy. And quite worrying to think that you could grasp your wand and cast random spells, while completely pissed. Either way, I'm just glad they stayed, because otherwise I'd have been sleeping on the floor."

Andre was looking at him funny.

"What?" asked Harry, a little self conscious.

Andre shook his head, as if trying to recall something, "Nothing, sorry. I just thought I'd realised something. It's gone now."

"Jesus, I'd better get back to the hotel, my relatives will be worrying."

"Alright, but you know where to find me. In fact," He rummaged around in a drawer for a while. "Take this," he said, handing over a key. "That's my spare. Don't lose it, but if I'm out when you call, just let yourself in." Harry smiled at him. "Thanks, mate."

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

The next few weeks passed quickly. The Headmaster of Durmstrang had been made aware of his new charge, and had given said charge his room in the college. This new charge was none other than Harry Potter and when he sent a letter saying he would be visiting Durmstrang, the Headmaster had sent the potions teacher, Robert Lorne, to show him around the school.

Harry liked the man, he was clever and witty, and a very quick thinker. Harry respected that. It appeared Robert was familiar with all subjects taught, to an extent. He showed his young charge around the separate departments, giving quick demonstrations of some of the 'toys' that the DADA teacher used, such as a prototype sneakoscope which had different settings, some of them meaning that intent would set off the machine, other settings meaning dark magic would be the cause of the alarm.

Rob sniggered. "Simon'll be pissed to hear I've shown you a few of his faves."

"I've already seen some of them during my fourth year. However, I've never seen a modified Sneakoscope before."

"That's 'cause he just made it. Clever bloke, Simon, he only started teaching late last year. He doesn't look like he cares about teaching much, more about having fun. You'll learn from him, though. He slips the lessons into his pranks and jokes. Once, there was a real brat who'd thought he was rubbish, Simon had the little tit pink skinned, neon green haired, and stuck to his chair. The class laughed at him all lesson, but nobody dared explain what they were laughing at, in case he got them as well. He would've, as well. The funniest part was apparently when he dismissed the class, and walked out. The kid was stuck there for a few hours, screaming his head off. He's been demoted a grade now, for not realising that it was a simple F.I. to get rid of it."

"F.I.?"

"Finite Incantatem. Standard notation in your notes. Geez Harry, didn't they teach you anything there?"

"Not much, not since Remus, anyway. He was third year. Umbridge hated practical, and also anything which would speed up the process of actually writing, so we had to write everything out in full, and copy it into our notes. Totally pointless, after all we were copying from our own books. Moody was just a psycho."

During this conversation, they had been wandering the halls, towards the potions section, which was actually in a seperate wing of the school. When Harry asked why, Robert replied, "In case of potions accidents. Potions change all the time, and some explosions can't be stopped by the wards. Wards don't update to block the latest potion, you know. Hogwarts' wards are ridiculous, what happens if they get a real powerful explosion? After all, Snape is a known researcher, and he's always messing around. The wards are holding out on power alone, but each explosion chips away at it. It can't be long now before the whole place comes down."

"On top of the git."

"Yes, on top of the git."

"In that case, I look forward to it."

Robert sniggered.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry was glad to see the summer pass without great incident; he found the last weeks hugely enjoyable. He spent a great deal of time in Andre's flat, while his relatives lived in the hotel for the rest of the holidays. He did, however teach them a few charms, meaning that whenever the puppy peed on the hotel carpet, they got away with it – thanks to scourgify.

It was at one of Harry's days sleeping at Andre's place, in fact the last night before they set off for school (they were arriving early, so Harry could get settled in), when Andre woke in early morning and turned over to see that Harry had left his side of the double bed. It was a one bedroom flat, so they shared a bed (their friendship is totally platonic) – and upon turning, saw Harry's outline, silhouetted in the window.

"What is it?" he said, quietly.

Harry startled, and blushed at being caught lost in his thoughts. "Nothing, nothing."

Andre got out of bed, and strode over to the window. He sat beside Harry on the sill, put an arm round the boy and said "Come on, you can tell me Harry."

Both boys were in their boxers, but didn't mind. Harry and Andre had bonded over the past weeks, developing a strong friendship, more trusting then ever before for Harry, and they could both let themselves be themselves around each other.

"I, just, well promise you won't hate me..."

"You know I won't hate you for anything, Harry. Come on, what's got you so worried?"

"Well, I think I'm..." Andre gave Harry a reassuring squeeze of the shoulders, and Harry gathered his courage and said, "I'm gay."

"When did you realise?" Andre's voice was soft and understanding.

"I dunno, it's been steadily over the past few months. I didn't really notice anything much during my last few weeks at Hogwarts, but I look back on it, and the way I thought changed a little. I've probably been this way for months, even years. I never found myself too attracted to a girl. I thought I had a crush on Cho Chang, but I think I really wanted a girlfriend, somebody caring and understanding. She was pretty, and my mind fell for her, not my heart. I would have known I was gay before then, but I didn't think about it because the wizarding world doesn't mention homosexuality very much. I don't know for sure, but in the muggle world more people seem to address the topic. The wizarding world, at least in England, is medieval, and nobody had really realised it could be an issue.

Also, my ex-friends were very uptight. I didn't notice, because at Privet Drive my relatives were more so, to the point of fanaticism. Ron and Hermione seemed very laid-back, but I guess when you're in the dark, everything seems brighter when you get out."

"That's true," nodded Andre. He continued; "People sometimes call me gay, because I have a crush on a guy. But love is love, why should it matter who loves whom?"

"Oh..." said Harry. "So you don't mind me being gay, then?"

"No, of course not. I told you I wouldn't hate you, and to be honest, it doesn't surprise me."

Harry's head snapped up. "It doesn't?"

"Nah, it was just a guess, but considering the fame, and the lack of any reasonable relationships... girls really had to be falling over themselves."

"They didn't!" Protested Harry.

"I find that hard to believe, you're hot as hell. You just didn't have the confidence. When you don't have the confidence in yourself, you assume..."

"You think I'm hot?" Harry squeaked, blushing.

"Harry, you've kept your celebrity status though more than just existing, trust me on this. Why do you think that the papers ever cared about your relationships?"

Harry didn't have a response for that, and turned his head away.

"Who was it who finally made you're mind up on it, Harry? You must have got a crush on a guy..."

Harry blushed even more. "No one, I just realised."

"I doubt that."

Harry scowled, "Who made your mind up then?"

"Viktor." Mikhail replied promptly.

"Viktor?"

"Krum."

"_WHAT?_ Jesus, what is this, celebrity connections? You're my best mate and you're in love with an internationally famous Quidditch player."

Mikhail smirked.

"I guess I'm just drawn to the photo ops," he joked. "Nah, really, I just can't help it, he's so hot. I have this vision of us flying away on his broomstick, my head resting on his shoulder and my arms around him. It's a really soppy romantic thing, but... I love the idea."

Harry cracked up.

Andre glared at him, affronted. "I know it's a bit silly, but Jesus, Harry. Don't worry about my feelings!"

"No, no," Harry gasped out. "It's not that, it's just... Do you know how dirty that sounded, you talking about riding his broomstick?"

Andre stared at him, until his lips twitched. Soon, both boys were in hysterics.

Harry snorted. "Brings so many definitions to the term 'Morning Wood'!"

They carried on laughing, until Andre shouted;

"Better make sure I've got broom polish around."

They giggled like madmen, occasionally gasping out dirty-minded innuendo, before collapsing in a sniggering heap on the bed.

"Night Harry."

"Night Andre."

"By the way, Harry, who was it you had a crush on?"

But Harry was already asleep. Or so he pretended, anyway.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

_**7pm, Durmstrang Institute, August 24th**_

'I really hope my room is near Andre's thought Harry as Robert led him down a corridor leading to some of the rooms. Andre was living in school, as he always had despite his new flat, which is closer than the house in England that he shared with his Aunt. He said to Harry that living out of the school would feel strange.

In truth, despite having a new school, it would have been strange to him as well.

Harry was lost in his memories of Hogwarts, what good memeories remained untainted by Ron and Hermione's betrayal, and Dumbledore's treachery – sitting around the fire, playing gobstones with Neville or Seamus, or even talking football with Dean; being the only two completely muggle-raised students in the dorm, both had a passion for the sport. Although quidditch had the entire Wizarding nation engrossed, both Harry and Dean enjoyed football more as a spectator sport.

_'I'll have to owl those three, even if just to warn them off Ron & Hermione,'_ mused Harry.

So lost in his thoughts of true friends, he didn't realise they had stopped walking, having arrived at the dorm.

Returning to earth from Robert's tap on the shoulder, Harry noticed a brass plate on the door into which the word 'Krum' was engraved.

"Krum? As in, Viktor?" asked Harry, his brow wrinkled in confusion.

"Yep, he's the moderator for this area. It's like having a head of house in Hogwarts, except the selection is random for each area, and you are allowed to stay in the common rooms of whichever 'House' you want. There's six in the college -"

"Hold up, what's Viktor doing here still? Hasn't he completed his education?" Harry interrupted.

Robert rolled his eyes and smiled. "Just about. But he's a teacher here. He teaches all the flight classes, whenever Sofia – his club team – isn't playing. Actually, they're a lucky team, they have hundreds more fans now that Viktor teaches here, because all the students love him to bits. Occasionally, the school will organise trips to his games.

"Anyway, as I was saying, there's six living areas for students, each with around thirty rooms. Each student gets a room each, and there are a few common rooms in each area – everybody is allowed in other area's common rooms, in case you have friends there. However, if the moderator thinks that anybody is being rude, offensive, or behaving in a less than respectable manner, they will be removed from that particular room, and taken to isolation. One hour, where all you are allowed to do is work. It's a good way of getting even the dodgy kids to do their homework."

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry was sat on his bed, simply admiring his 'room'. However, despite what it was called, this was no room. This was an entire apartment that simply fit into the outward space of a single room. It had been expanded, and a kitchen, bedroom, bathroom and living room – also the entrance - made up his apartment.

Durmstrang had a rather neat idea on how to deal with the catering situation without many house-elves – have restocking cupboards in the apartments, and the students cook for themselves. If they can't cook, then they lose a free period to cookery class, and when they pass they can cook whatever they want. Until they pass, they have to deal with a smaller choice of foods, cooked by some of the few house-elves at the college.

Also, if you want a tidy apartment, then tidy it yourself. However, laundry is the one job always done by the house-elves, and all clothing had to have name-tags attached, so they could give them to the right students. These were the main rules laid down, apart from that it was obvious – no fighting, no offensive behaviour, always do your homework, etc.

Robert had gone over these before he had left, also mentioning that Viktor should have been doing it, but he was busy with a league game; which also explained the lack of students – some stayed through the holidays, having nowhere nearby to live, and unlike some sports, Quidditch was played all year round, so students during holidays would always go see his games, having little better to do.

About two hours after Harry had been shown to his room, and had unpacked everything, he was reading a book, with his feet up on the other side of the sofa in his front room, and a cozy fire burning in the hearth. A knock came at the door, and Harry looked up from The Fellowship of the Ring, by Tolkien.

"Come in!" Stated Harry.

The door opened, and a man said "Hello again, Harry," in a strong Eastern-European accent.

"Viktor! It's great to see you again," greeted Harry warmly, rising to greet his visitor.

"And you, Harry," came the reply from the Bulgarian.

They shook hands, and Harry offered him a seat.

"Do you want a drink, or something?" asked Harry, playing the host, and actually pretty glad to be using a kitchen for that sort of reason – most of his life at the Dursleys, he'd been cooking for them only, he very rarely ate a hot meal, making do with cheese sandwiches mostly. At Hogwarts, the elves dealt with that sort of need. Harry liked the feeling of liberation that came from cooking when he wanted to.

"I vould like a cup ov something hot, coffee if it vould not be too much trouble. It vas freezing, and the hot vater vas broken in the shovers after the match."

When Harry had returned from the kitchen with a cup of coffee for Viktor, and tea for himself, he noticed Viktor was still shivering, so having passed the coffee into grateful hands, he cast a warming charm on the sofa. Viktor looked a little puzzled. At Harry's inquisitive look, he wondered out loud;

"Vhy did I not think of vat?"

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"Right, so I believe vat you have already been filled in by Professor Lorne on most of the rules, so I'm really just here to explain a few things vhat you might vant to know. Firstly, is there anything in particular you are vondering about?"

"Quidditch, are there teams for it?"

"I am afraid not, Harry. We do play quidditch, but it's recreational only. However, if you vant to play competitively, you could join a professional team. A couple haff already done that, I did it long before I taught. Often, a group of friends will start their own team, and enter them into a lower league, but I think you could join an established team."

"That's sounds fantastic," came Harry's enthusiastic reply. "Do you know any team who'll need a seeker?"

"Vell, I vould advise joining the reserve team for a club. If you vant, I could put in a vord – Sofia needs a new reserve, in case I get injured. It has happened in the past, and caused the team to lose – we haff a reserve seeker, but his build is not good enough. His reflexes, while excellent, are also clearly outclassed by vhat I have seen from you."

"You really think I'm good enough to join a premier league team?"

"Harry, you could be the best seeker in the vorld, given time."

Harry tried to protest, but Viktor raising a hand silenced him.

"Zat is my opinion, whether you accept it or not. Anyvay, you haff more questions?"

"Yeah, how exactly does the education system work?"

"Vell, you vould need to choose your lessons first," he stated, handing over a prospectus. "Ve vill look through it later. After you have chosen, a timetable will be made. The amount of lessons you haff is your choice, although you vill need to take the core lessons as vell. To graduate from a subject, you must pass a grade band. To do that you are set an exam by your professor. Once you haff graduated from all the grade bands, the subject is complete, and you timetable automatically updates, to replace it with a free period. When this happens, you can fill the space with another lesson, or just leave it free. There is no time limit to how often you can progress. I myself qualified both Broomflight classes in a single veek. You, I imagine, will qualify even quicker.

"Broomflight classes are half core, as everybody is taught basic broomflight as mandatory, but there as an advanced course vhich must be completed for a professional team to even consider accepting you. However, I have seen you fly, and I vill enter you into my exam immediately, and ven you pass both, you vill be qualified to fly professionally. Both flight courses haff only a single grade band.

"Now if you open that prospectus, I vill show you the lessons you vill be taking."

Harry did so, and was directed to the 'courses' section.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

"Right, so you will be doing Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against Dark Arts, Dark Arts, Potions & Basic Herbology, Arithmancy and Rune Magic. Since you've lived in both the muggle world and wizarding world for five or more years, you are exempt from Cultural Studies. You'll be starting from the beginning for Arithmancy, Dark Arts and Rune Magic, correct?" Headmaster Ainion asked.

Headmaster Armand Ainion was aesthetically, a peculiar man. Whether it continued onto his personality was up for debate, but with waist length hair in an enviable shade of crimson, shockingly amber eyes, and a diminuitive height of 5'7'', he certainly stuck out like a sore thumb, in what was a relatively normal establishment.

"Yep," replied Harry.

"Very well, I will inform the other subject's teachers that you need an assessment. That will be all, I think – oh wait, I heard you wish to play for a Quidditch team?" Upon seeing Harry's confused nod, he continued. "In that case, you will need to ensure that you train only in your spare time, except in special cases. By this, I mean important matches for your club coming up, and so on. After all, even I have a soft spot for Quidditch."

Harry grinned, and inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Of course, Headmaster. By the way, have you found a replacement for your Magical Creatures teacher?"

"I'm afraid not, Harry. I have been searching for the entire summer so far, but have not found one quite adequate. A skilled teacher in the subject is difficult to find, however we are trying to persuade an ex-Hogwarts teacher, Professor Kettleburn to fill in until we have one. He says he will, but reluctantly, since he apparently has felt uncomfortable around animals since an accident with an Erumpent in Africa cost him an arm. It sneezed on him, with disastrous results. For some reason, he refuses to get it regrown."

Harry cut in. "If you've ever drank Skele-grow, you'll know why. Anyway, at Hogwarts while Hagrid was unable to teach for a few months, a supply teacher, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank came in. Lord knows, she was a damn sight better than Hagrid."

"In that case, I will contact her. Very well, I shall see you later Mr. Potter."

Harry took this as a dismissal, and left the office.

When he left the room, he found his relatives waiting outside.

"Hello Harry," said Petunia. "How'd it go?"

"Meh, I found out my lessons, and suggested a new teacher."

"Who for?" said Andre, coming up behind Harry, who understandably flew up into the air.

"Geez Andre, don't do that!" Admonished Harry.

"I would apologize, but the scaring was totally intentional," said Andre cheekily.

Harry slapped him on the back of the head, to which the Russian pouted, but didn't reply.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry spent most of the remaining summer idly wandering around the college, usually with his overexuberant puppy bouncing around his ankles. Andre walked with him sometimes as well, either pointing out good spots to sit and talk, or just to think in peace. Harry, once again, was glad that he had moved to Durmstrang. It was not cold, as the Hogwarts students were led to believe, in fact a weather charm was cast over the grounds making the whole atmosphere similar to summer all year. Well, not all year – everybody's got to have snow at some point in the year.

During one of these sedate ambles, Harry recalled conversations he'd had with Ron, after the Durmstrang students had arrived at Hogwarts. They said that Durmstrang must be cold, that's why they are wearing the cloaks. Harry snorted. If they spent most of their time in a freezing cold place, why would they need cloaks to go somewhere warmer? Surely they'd be used to cold.

Harry loved everything about Durmstrang. It was warm, the teachers were pleasant and competent, and most importantly, there was nobody here to betray him. Dumbledore wouldn't have thought to place a person in Durmstrang; he didn't know Harry owned it.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

The time before term passed quickly, and Harry soon found himself wandering to his first lesson of the year. It was peculiar seeing the college so full of people, as the student wing was sparse during summer, while the lesson corridors were totally empty except for the occasional teacher, wandering around the rooms trying to prepare for the next term.

Harry had found that his first lesson was Potions, with R. Lorne, who he already knew, of course. He knew the man was a talented potions master, and a Slytherin (for he indeed went to Hogwarts) of the way that Salazar intended – witty and cunning, rather than oily and overconfident.

This got Harry thinking. What about characters such as Draco Malfoy? He knew that the sorting hat had the essences of all founders inside, which means that surely, only if there was complete agreement with all personalities, would a new student be admitted immediately to a certain house, as Draco was. Did this mean that Salazar believed that Draco was an ideal Slytherin? He certainly could outwit anyone, when he desired... even at the age of eleven, not Harry, Neville, Ron or Hermione realised that they had been set up. Harry remembered Draco as merely an irritation, a thorn in his side, but what if Draco was more as a person than that? Perhaps that was a facade, the 'smug git' persona that most people knew him as.

The more Harry thought, the more his curiosity grew. He wanted to meet Malfoy again, he had to...

When Harry finally arrived at his lesson, he was at least ten minutes late.

"Will you tell me why you're late, Harry?" Professor Lorne said.

"I lost track of time, sorry Professor. I'm too used to just wandering around the college, thinking."

Harry shot a small grin at his teacher.

The potion master rolled his eyes. "Sit down, and don't call me professor. None of the teachers particularly want you to, and Simon'll have a fit if you do."

"Erm, alright Rob."

"Harry! Over here!" A four person desk was filled except for one seat, next to Andre. Harry sat down quickly, greeting his friend in hushed tones.

"Right!" Robert had raised his voice, to address the entire class, who'd been distracted by Harry's entrance.

"The first topic on the syllabus is medicine, so we will start with a discussion of very basic magical first aid. So, firstly, assume I was choking to death. You have ten minutes, and I want you to write a method on how you would prevent my untimely and rather... undignified demise. You can use any ingredients that you want, but the final solution to the problem would need to able to be administered very quickly."

Ten minutes later, after some worried head scratching from a few students, Robert called out "do we have a solution?" Seeing the general consensus of nods, he asked Harry for his solution. Harry gave it very reluctantly. Robert read it rather quickly, and his expression changed from indifference to shock.

Then he burst out laughing. "Well done Harry, well done indeed." He said once he had recovered.

"Robert, what did he put?" asked a slightly younger student.

"The Heimlich manoeuvre, and step by step instructions on how to perform it."

Andre burst out laughing, while the rest of the class looked baffled. Andre gasped out, holding his stomach, "The Heimlich manoeuvre is a muggle solution where you grab the person from behind, and tug your hands up into their stomach. It almost always works, but most wizards wouldn't think of it."

"Yes, well done Harry – although trust you, probably the most powerful wizard here, to use a muggle solution."

A burly student in the back of the class laughed, and yelled "Who the hell is he? Since when is that shrimp the most powerful wizard in the college? He's wearing make-up, the fag!" (Don't take offense; Please, the original author is gay, and I'm bisexual.)

He got hexed by fourteen people in the few seconds, notably Harry himself, who was now very obviously Harry Potter, since before nobody really looked at him. Also hexing him was, understandably, Andre, whose face wore such rage that even Harry was intimidated, and the professor himself, who nonchalantly said, "One by one now, who hexed him with what? And if any were dangerous to his health, speak up now." Everybody remained quiet. "That just leaves me then," said Robert cheerfully.

Harry had to struggle to keep a straight face.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

Harry only had one more lesson that day, being Defence Against the Dark Arts with a professor that Harry had heard mentioned but never met. Simon Blake. However, when he entered the room, he took one look at his silver-dyed-haired teacher before his eyes widened and he passed out with shock, saying only one word, and cracking his head on the floor.

The teacher took one look at him, and said one word, in utter shock, "Oops..." while thinking _'I didn't set up the pranks on the door today, I'm sure of it! I never do, for first day...'_

Before he took a closer look at this student, anyway. Then his thoughts went blank, and his jaw figuratively hit the floor.

"Guys, I'm calling off this class," he said in a choked voice, before carrying Harry to the infirmary.

The students were a little confused, but didn't care much, since they now had a free period, for what was the last lesson of the day, and headed off in their own direction, except for Andre who tried to catch up with the teachers.

Meanwhile, one student was beginning to worry that her hearing was going wrong. She could have sworn that before Harry collapsed, he muttered "Siri?"

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

End of Chapter Ten.

**Notes: **From here, the story is ALL mine. :D I hope you've enjoyed the edits, and I honestly can't wait to finish the story. Since the original Author chose NOT to finish it, I'm doing it, and I want to make it absolutely PERFECT. :D :D So, here's the beginning of chapter Eleven. Enjoy!

Xxxx : Line break : xxxX

Simon, or Sirius Black, paced just outside the door as the Nurse Matron worked on Harry to see what had caused the fainting spell. He hadn't thought his godson would ever move to Durmstrang, and had dyed his hair to make sure he wouldn't be recognized by anyone, ESPECIALLY Harry.

As a quick gait of two people came closer, he lifted his head to look at the intruders, his hands balling into fists.

Petunia caught one look at him and screeched, "_Sirius_? You're **alive**! Harry-"

The teacher cut her off, "Harry was never meant to know I surived," he said softly, "I survived, I was pushed back by Lily and James out of the Veil, Holly. They told me I was needed to protect Harry. After I came back, Dumbledore set the creatures of the Forbidden Forest to hunt me, to kill me."

His grey eyes darkened, "Dumbledore wants to kill Harry, Holly. He's losing Harry and he doesn't like it, so he plans on taking him out."

Petunia gasped, as Dudley let a soft growl of "Never!" escape himself.

"Sirius, what happens now?" Harry's voice said, making all three of the others turn to glance at the door. Sirius, being the oldest male, moved to kneel before his sickly-looking godson, and took his hands.

"I don't know, Harry. You were never supposed to find out I was still alive. Dumbledore forbade me himself from telling you, and he forced me to leave the country. I had to beg Political Asylum from the Bulgarian Minister of Magic, and provide evidence of everything. Minister Ivan was furious, Harry, so furious.." the man murmured, before he stood and tugged the 16 year old into his arms. Harry buried his face in Sirius' chest, his arms wrapping around the man's middle tightly.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

_Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy, Lord Voldemort, Death Eaters _

"Luciussss," Voldemort hissed softly, circling his Second-in-command, "You will find me the boy, or be punissshed sssseverely."

"Y-yes, my Lord, right away!" Lucius answered, bowing his head. The man was angered, and it showed as Voldemort walked to sit in the throne. His Death Eaters, minus one Severus Snape, stood against the walls with Lucius kneeling ten feet from him.

"Now, Luciuss! What are you waiting for?" The Dark Lord demanded, slamming his closed-fist on the arm of his chair. Lucius rose, turned on his heel, and ran from the room. Following him was a shout of "Dismissed!"

'_I've got to find Potter! Maybe Draco knows if he has turned up at that school yet,'_

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

_Hogwarts, Dumbledore's Office_

"Severus, my dear boy, come in, come in!" Albus exclaimed, rising from behind his desk, "Lemon drop?" Inside however, Albus was _seething_. The Potter brat had managed to evade him most of the summer, and now, being the beginning of the year, he had decided to completely forgo attending Hogwarts.

"Albus," the dark haired man said stiffly, "No thank you, you know I despise that muggle candy, Albus."

"Ah, of course, right you are, Severus. Tell me, what news is the Dark Lord giving you?"

"He has, as I told you before, decided to cease hunting Potter. Instead, he has been inclined to gather more-" Snape broke off, before spitting out the last word, "_Followers_. He is itching to begin this war with or without Potter, and has been making his feelings on the subject known."

Albus pondered for a moment, before nodding, "Harry certainly **has **evaded us this summer. Surely Voldemort isn't going to try hunting him down as soon as he makes his stance known?"

The Potions Master shook his head, his voice now silky and clearly agitated, "I do not know if or when he will hunt Potter down, Albus. He has not made it known yet what he plans to do."

"Of course, of course."

And then an official Gringotts Owl tapped against the window.

Xxxx : Line Break : xxxX

_Gryffindor Common Room, 8pm_

Hermione sat with her books heaped on her lap, the Ancient Runes textbook open as she scribbled something down for her essay. Ron, Neville, Seamus and Dean were all surrounding her, each doing their own homework.

Ron perked up suddenly, as the well-known bird Hedwig tapped against the window, a letter attached to her leg.

"Well, if it isn't Potter's owl," he sneered, rising to let the snowy owl in, "Wonder what 'Golden Boy's' got to say for himself."

Hermione huffed from the couch, scowling at her boyfriend, "Who cares? Harry can go rot in hell after the way he treated Professor Dumbledore!" Dean, Neville and Seamus had all heard what had happened, and had all received their own letters from Harry explaining the situation. They chose not to comment.

"_Dear Ronald Billius Weasley and Hermione Jean Granger,_

_Gringotts has been alerted to the Treachory of one Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore in coincidence to the Potter family vaults. Enclosed are two separate lists for both of you. Please read the magical contract also included and understand it does not require a signature from either of you to be fulfilled. _

_Thank you,_

_Goblins of Gringotts and Mr. Harry James Potter."_

Enclosed was a letter to Ron:

"_Mr. Ronald Weasley,_

_On this day, August 16__th__, 1996, all magical artefacts and each Gold transference from the Potter Family Vaults made to your own private vault have been removed and replaced with magical-bindings to the Potter vaults. _

_As such, here is a list of everything that was taken illegally and gifted to you without Mr. Potter's prior Knowledge._

_(_Here was a list of the above-listed objects/money)

_Gold – G; Knuts- K; Sickles- S_

_G:100 000 000_

_K:030 000 000_

_S:010 000 000_

_Books:_

_Magical Runes And Ancient Warding Techniques _by Ameliana Jones

_Magical Medical Healing, Edition 12_ by St. Mungo's

_ParselMagic: Parseltongue translations to English _by Salazar Slytherin

_Ancient Magical Hexes and other Dark Magicks _by the Order of Merlin Society

The list continued for quite awhile, while Ron got redder and redder by the words he read.

Hermione also read her own letter, screeching in outrage before rushing to her room to find all of her precious books, gone! Along with all notes and copies she had made. Surely Potter couldn't do that!

**Magical Contract for Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, as stated by the Goblins of Gringotts per Harry James Potter's own Words.**

_First, Hermione Jean Granger of Gryffindor house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will from now on be unable to view anything belonging to the original Potter line. Anything gifted or taken unfairly or illegally will be taken without legal consequence and be restored to My, Harry James Potter's, vault at Gringott's Bank in Diagon Alley. _

_Second, Ronald Billius Weasley of Gryffindor House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will front now on be unable to view anything belonging to the original Potter line. Anything gifted or taken unfairly or illegally will be taken without legal consequence and be restored to My, Harry James Potter's, vault at Gringott's Bank in Diagon Alley._

_Third, All Weasley Family Members, Except Fredrick Gideon and George Fabian Weasley, will be unable to receive any money from the Potter Family vaults; As such, due to this decree by Harry James Potter, Heir and Current Head of the Most Noble and Ancient house of Potter, Should Fred and George Weasley attempt to give the Potter money given to them to any of their Weasley relatives that are __**not**__ their children or wives, they will be under the same restrictions as Arthur, Molly, Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ronald, and Ginerva Weasley, and extended family. _

_Fourth, All Marriage Contracts created by Albus Dumbledore are now void and null. Meaning, in no way, shape or form, Harry James Potter is legally bound to marry Ginerva Molly Weasley before __**or**__ after Ms. Weasley's seventeenth birthday._

As Ron finished reading the Contract, the headmaster, Snape, McGonagall and the rest of Gryffindor house all glared at the two red-headed Weasleys.

Ginny, having heard everything from upstairs, screeched loudly enough to make everyone (_including Portraits_) cover their ears and grimace, "_**WHAT**_? No, that simply cannot be true!"

She looked pleadingly at Dumbledore, who held up his own copy of the contract. There was nothing they could do.

Xxxx : Line Break. End of Chapter. : xxxX

Xxxx : Notes : xxxX

Thanks for reading so far, guys! I'm really glad you're enjoying everything and I sincerely hope you enjoy what I've added to the story, plotline, etc.! :D :D

Luc, Draco and a few others will be making appearances soon, and I really need names for some foreign Wizards and Witches I want to introduce. :D :D Anything Bulgarian, Russian, French, Greek, Italian would be great! :D :D

Adios!

Ciao!

Hasta Luego!

Bye till next time! :D

Scath-Bunus


	5. Author Update Number One

_**Author's Update. Please read EVERYTHING. **_

**Authors Note – A/N**

**Update Note – U/N**

Okay, so far everything's been great. :D

I love the reviewers, they make me so happy and I get warm and fuzzy inside when I read the reviews! :D 3 Tehe!

To answer some Reviews, here's one to start off, then on with the story! :D :D

autumngold

1/24/12 . chapter 2

I'm so excited to see what Harry has planned next! Maybe some articles about Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet? Finding others that Dumbledore screwed over, like Voldemort, and making them allies? Personally, I think that Harry should continue his education at Durmstrang, that way Dumbledore will no longer be able to harrass him. Great update! I'm really enjoying your story!

Autumn, I was actually planning on doing just that with Dumbledore in the Prophet! :D Of course, at the moment, I'd like to focus on Voldemort in the next few chapters and have a few encounters. A personal one-on-one with Severus and old Voldy, even add Draco into the mix. I was planning on making Harry and Voldemort allies, after a relationship of some sort forms between them. And, if you read close enough, Harry's already continuing on at Durmstrang; It makes it harder for Dumbles to control Harry. :D Thanks for the kind words, too, and I hope you enjoy whatever I post next!

BreBaby – Thanks for the awesome words! I hope you continue to review and I sincerely hope you keep reading the story as I update! :D

CClan - *lol's* thanks for the words! I hate to ask, but as a writer who hasn't had many reviews, what has you most intrigued so far? The fact that Harry's completely rebelling against Dumbledore or the fact that Petunia and Dudders are actually magical? :D

Harry. Potter. Is. Boss – Names have literally never been truer; Harry Potter IS Boss :D Lol. Sorry, had to do it! :D I plan on updating every other day or so, with college classes and whatnot. Expect another update by Saturday after 10pm at the latest! Keep reading, hope you enjoy! :D

_HalfDemonDaughter _

_1/25/12 . chapter 3_

_I was just wondering if you had noticed that you had jumped from being in Gringotts at the end of chapter four in your last post to Harry waking up with a puppy at the beginng of chapter eight in this post. Was this intentional or were you distracted by something when you posted it?_

_Other than that it is actually an overall good story. I've read a lot of stories where people have not plot or idea what they want the story to do and so far you haven't shown that so your story has been really good._

_HalfDemonDaughter_, to specifically answer your question, NO, I didn't mean to that. I actually think I need to tear it all down and RE-post it AGAIN, to edit all the mistakes and whatnot. I honestly didn't know that the posts were doing that. I was, or trying to, edit TWO chapters of about 5-6 pages **each** together, making it 10-12 pages for each chapter. Appearantly, it's cutting out the ends of the chapters I'm posting. I'm most likely going to re-post it. Hope that answers your questions.

As for the second comments and whatnot, thank you for the kind words! Unfortunately, this isn't my story, at least, not until chapter four which I WAS going to put up today but chose not to. If I have to, I'm just going to re-write everything with the same concept but this time, make it entirely my own. :(

_**NOTE UPDATE! JANUARY 25 2012 at 10:11PM CST**_

For all my lovely readers, I have RE-EDITED EVERYTHING And gotten it all straightened out, I hope! :D Please thank **HalfDemonDaughter** (brilliant name, btw! :D) for catching my mistake. :D Amazing job, and should you want to be my Beta Reader, PLEASE! I BEG YOU! I need one, desperately, lol. *lol's*

:D :D Anyway, back to writing, so I can update again this week! :D D

SlytherinPrincess1993 :D :3


	6. Revealing Familiar Faces

**Authors Note – A/N**

**Update Note – U/N**

_Okay, so far everything's been great. :D _

_I love the reviewers, they make me so happy and I get warm and fuzzy inside when I read the reviews! :D 3 Tehe!_

_To answer some Reviews, here's one to start off, then on with the story! :D :D_

autumngold

1/24/12 . chapter 2

**I'm so excited to see what Harry has planned next! Maybe some articles about Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet? Finding others that Dumbledore screwed over, like Voldemort, and making them allies? Personally, I think that Harry should continue his education at Durmstrang, that way Dumbledore will no longer be able to harrass him. Great update! I'm really enjoying your story!**

Autumn, I was actually planning on doing just that with Dumbledore in the Prophet! :D Of course, at the moment, I'd like to focus on Voldemort in the next few chapters and have a few encounters. A personal one-on-one with Severus and old Voldy, even add Draco into the mix. I was planning on making Harry and Voldemort allies, **after** a relationship of some sort forms between them. And, if you read close enough, Harry's already continuing on at Durmstrang; It makes it harder for Dumbles to control Harry. :D Thanks for the kind words, too, and I hope you enjoy whatever I post next!

_BreBaby – _Thanks for the awesome words! I hope you continue to review and I sincerely hope you keep reading the story as I update! :D

_CClan - _*lol's* thanks for the words! I hate to ask, but as a writer who hasn't had many reviews, what has you most intrigued so far? The fact that Harry's completely rebelling against Dumbledore or the fact that Petunia and Dudders are actually magical? :D

_Harry. Potter. Is. Boss –_ Names have literally never been truer; Harry Potter IS Boss :D Lol. Sorry, had to do it! :D I plan on updating every other day or so, with college classes and whatnot. Expect another update by Saturday after 10pm at the **latest**! Keep reading, hope you enjoy! :D

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_The Dark Lord's Manor, Little Hangleton_

Lucius Malfoy, with long, glorious blonde hair, knelt before his Lord with his head bowed, the other forty plus Death Eaters all kneeling behind him in submission. Normally, he would be completely frightened, but at the present moment, he couldn't care less.

"Luciusss," came the soft lilting-hiss, "Rissse, my followersss, I have newsss."

They all rose, simultaneously, but kept their eyes glued to the floor. The blonde that was currently front and centre almost gaped when his Lord handed him a sealed evelope with his person Seal and Hogwarts House emblam on the front.

"Find Draco, give thisss letter to him, and tell him to deliver it to Durmstrang. Simon Blake, Luciuss, no one but Simon Blake! Do you underssstand me, Luciusss?"

"Yes, my Lord," Lucius answered softly, before he bowed his head and retreated to kneel beside a certain, greasy-haired Potions Master, and his brother in all but blood, Severus Snape.

As the meeting went on, Lucius took the time to hide the letter within his robes. Luckily, it wasn't him being _Crucio_'d this meeting, and so, went home soon after seven o'clock.

His wife and son were in the dining hall when he entered, still in his robes but holding the letter the Dark Lord had given him. He stopped before his son who put his fork down, and extended the letter. With shaking hands, Lucius noticed, Draco took hold of the letter and Lucius went to sit at the head of the table. He watched Draco open it in silence. The grey-blue eyes scanned the page before he dropped it in shock, scrambling for the next page. After he was done, he lifted his head and handed both over to his father.

"_Draco Malfoy,_

_Please make sure to congragulate Mr. Harry Potter upon your arrival to Durmstrang School of Magic. Once there, Mr. Simon Blake will escort you around the building, and help you build a Schedule. While more proficient than Hogwarts, I, as the Dark Lord, feel your precense be placed elsewhere. _

_As to why you are to congratulate Mr. Potter, shall we? _

_He is, as of August 4__th__, the owner of Durmstrang School and One Half of Hogwarts belongs to him. He will be attending his own school to see what improvements need doing, and is aware I am contacting you._

_Do me proud, and your father will not suffer, young Draco._

_Lord Voldemort."_

Lucius nearly dropped the letter, only setting it down long enough to summon a house-elf with a full bottle of Firewhiskey. He poured two shots for Draco and himself, the twin blondes downing the shot-glasses easily.

Narcissa looked quite lost as she also picked up the letter and read it, her eyes growing as wide as saucers.

"Draco, pack for Durmstrang," Narcissa ordered.

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_Durmstrang, Hospital Wing_

**Avada Kadavra** emerald-coloured eyes opened to look directly up into the harsh cold grey-blue eyes of his godfather, but for a moment, he only thought Professor Blake was just concerned.

Until, that is, he shouted, "Harry!" and literally pulled the sixteen year old youth to his chest, squeazing the breath out of him, making him gasp, "_Sirius!-_A-air!-A-" he was cut off by the nurse bustling over and prying the man from around him. He shot her a grateful look as she began casting Diagnostic spells and pushed Sirius out of the room.

**Outside the Durmstrang Hospital Wing**

Sirius only worried his bottom lip, trying extremely hard to come up with some excuse for the disappearance and everything else since, knowing his godson would probably most likely hex his balls off if he learned the truth about everything.

Still, the 'Grim' animagus knew his godson would never truly _hate_ him, just be extremely pissed off. Ah, well.

Though a few moments later, Sirius, er, **Simon** was regretting his decision as a screech of _'SIRIUS ORION BLACK! GET YOUR ARSE IN HERE!'_ came from behind the closed doors in Harry's voice. He entered the room, his eyes lowered to avoid looking at Harry's face.

When he settled next to the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Faint-In-His-Supposed-Dead-God-Father's-Class, Harry automatically gripped his chin and forced his gaze upwards until his smokey grey eyes locked onto the furious Avada Kedavra green's Harry sported.

Then, '_why?'_, so softly, Sirius wasn't sure he had heard.

"Er-what?"

"_Why_, Sirius? I-I thought…I-I mean, everyone at the Ministry, the veil, Remus, Dumbledore-" at the mention of Albus Dumbledore, Sirius gave a low growl, before Harry continued, "Merlin, Sirius…everyone thought you were dead."

"I know," he said, taking one of Harry's not-surprisingly smaller hands in his much larger ones, "I know everyone thought I was dead, Harry. Dumbledore forced me into hiding, literally. I had to beg, _BEG,_ mind you, for this job and for Political Asylum from the Bulgarian Ministry. Albus threatened me, Harry, you know this from the Pensieve, and he threatened Remus. The Weasley's are all paid, well maybe not the oldest two Weasley boys, and the twins, but the rest are paid to care about you, Harry. When I refused to go back to Grimwauld, he threatened to have me shut back in Azkaban, Harry." At this, Sirius looked away, tears sprinkling in his eyes. He refused to show how hurt he was, but then he felt the rough but gentle pads of Harry's fingers wiping his free-falling tears from his eyes.

"Oh, Sirius…you know Remus and I, we would have followed you anywhere. Besides, Remus is back with the werewolves. And, obviously, I'm attending Durmstrang. Dumbles can't touch us now!" The raven-haired boy leaned forward and gently pecked his godfather's cheek. "Dumbledore will **never** be able to lock you back inside Azkaban. I have more than enough right to have him brought up on charges of theft, forgery, robbery, and more!"

"Really?"

"Really, Siri-"

"**Sirius!"** came the breathy voice of the werewolf Sirius knew and loved. Harry and Sirius turned, a smile breaking out on Harry's face as he saw Remus standing at the Wing Entrance. His eyes bugging out, his chest heaving as he panted for breath. He almost leapt for Sirius, but managed to restrain himself, from where Harry could see. Sirius, however, was slowly rising from his spot, tears now eagerly slipping from his eyes as he stumbled to his former lover.

Remus' arms wrapped around Sirius' shaking form, as the sobs rushed forth. His own amber eyes moved to settle on the boy's form, a smile lifting the corners of Remus' mouth as he softly whispered the words, "Thank you," to Harry before turning and leading Sirius from the room.'

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End of the story for now!

I hope you guys continue reading, and I'm really enjoying adding my own words to finish this story!

If you have ANY suggestions, I'm open to them!

I know I said I'd update this weekend, well, after reading some more and fixing our little, shall we say, _problem_, I decided to update again to earn some Brownie points!

Thanks for reading!

R&R Please!

SlytherinPrincess1993 3

P.S: Sorry it's so short. Class is taking WAYYYY too much outta me!


	7. Important Author Update

**Font:** Times New Roman

**Letter Size: **14pt

No spacing.

Authors Note:

Hola, mi compadres!

I am working to write new chapters for five of my stories at the present moment; I wanted to have this Author's Note up sooner, but it's been hard doing a lot lately.

Reason for me not updating as often as I've promised is because I've not been getting enough sleep, so I'm pretty lethargic. I HAVE been to see a professional about this, and said professional believes I'm suffering from **Post Tramatic Stress Disorder** and **Paranoia**, mixed with some mild **Schizophrenia**. 

http : / www . helpguide. Org / mental / post _ traumatic _ stress _ disorder _ symptoms _ treatment . htm

^^^^ Take the spaces out and read up on the Disorder, if you want!

Currently, I'm being looked at by a doctor before we begin experimenting with medication.

I WILL update when I am rested up a bit and get the urge. For now, I hope you readers (new/old) enjoy the updates I've done and will continue to wait patiently.

It is taking a toll not only on my mental health, but my physical health as well. And, well, living at home with an over-bearing father who thinks there's nothing wrong when EVERYTHING's wrong…. Yeah. I don't think I'll be helped any time soon, seeing as he _**refuses**_ to take me to a doctor; He says I don't need it.

Anyway,

Au Revoir,

Avery Athena Black. ^_^

**Stories To Be Updated** _(Listed Below)_

The Struggles of being a Veela Mate –

Nature's Gift –

Midnight Surprises and Lifetime Commitments –

Broken In Pieces I –

It's Not Easy –

**Stories To Be Taken Down, Re-Edited and Re-Posted **_(Listed Below)_

Like A Virgin –

Malfoy's Darkest Desires –

After His Death –

**Stories To Be Edited/Posted Before November 2012**

Untitled – **Description**: Prequal to _After His Death_ and Sequal to _Mauraders Era_ (Lucius and James), this is the story of Draco and Harry. Rivals in school, they fought the growing attraction that they'd felt since the first meeting in Madam Malkin's shop. As they go through Hogwarts years 1-7, they find out more about their two families than they ever thought possible; Like, why is it that the Heirs of both families are ALWAYS soul-mates?

Welcome To My Life: Part One – **Description: **Prequal to a currently in-progress story, and the first of 3, this is the story of Abraxas, Lucius and Draco Malfoy. Exactly in that order. It starts with Part One (I), Abraxas Malfoy. His story of Hogwarts, and then later when he joins the ranks of the First Generation of Death Eaters. Then, his marriage and the birth of his heir, Lucius. Up Until His Death.

Sacrifices Must Be Made: Part Two – **Description: **Sequal to WTML, it retells the ending of Abraxas' sad story and the beginning of Lucius' own. From tormented young child to strong Malfoy Patriarch, follow Lucius through his own time in the Death eater's ranks and the birth/early life of his only son and heir, Draco Lucius Malfoy.

The Fall From Grace: Part Three – **Description: **TFFG is the end of the Malfoy Men Trilogy. Draco Malfoy is in danger of following his father and grandfather's world-wary steps, but meets the Boy Who Lived, and decides to change his families tune of life. It takes hard work, and much guidance from his godfather, but to win the affection of Harry Potter, it's all worth it. Unfortunately, it's not as easy as he first thought.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming instalments!

I shall leave you now to your wonderful thoughts, and I will begin reviewing and upgrading Story Quality immediately.

:p


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